REDEMPTION 



SOUTH END 



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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT; 




MORGAN MEMORIAL 
A GLIMPSE OF THE SALESROOM 



The Redemption 
2= The South End 

A STUDY IN CITY EVANGELIZATION 



BY 

E. C. E. DORION 




THE ABINGDON PRESS 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI 






Copyright, 1915, by 
E. C. E. DORION 



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SEP (4 (9/5 

©Q.A411487 



TO THE MEMORY OF 

MY FATHER 

THOMAS A. DORION 

FAITHFUL MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL 

WHO GAVE HIS LIFE TO CITY EVANGELIZATION 

AND TO MY MOTHER 

WHO SHARED TO THE FULL IN HIS IDEALS AND 

IN HIS SERVICE FOR HUMANITY 

I DEDICATE 

THIS BOOK 



CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

Preface 9 

I. A Glimpse of the Institution 11 

II. The South End 18 

III. Beginnings 24 

IV. The Rescue Work 32 

V. Some Who Have Prevailed 40 

VI. The Children's Settlement 49 

VII. The Industrial Plant 56 

VIII. The Institution and the Community 65 

IX. Among the Foreign-Born 76 

X. Morgan Memorial as a Church 84 

XI. A Contribution to National Welfare 91 

XII. The Plant in Detail 97 

XIII. South Athol — Morgan Memorial in the Country 105 

XIV. Edgar J. Helms and His Corps of Workers Ill 

XV. What Does It All Cost? 119 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Morgan Memorial; A Glimpse of the Salesroom Frontispiece 

facing page 

Dressmaking Class; Summer Vacation School 14 

Summer Kindergarten; Class in Hammock-Making 20 

Rev. Henry Morgan, the Founder 26 

The Fred H. Seavey Seminary Settlement 32 

Temperance Saloon ; Printing Plant 39 

Day Nursery Dormitory; Kindergarten Exercises in Gym- 
nasium 52 

Shoe Repairing Department; Rug Weaving 58 

Sloyd Class; Class in Cooking 68 

Work and Play at Morgan Memorial in the Country 78 

Gold Medals Won at Liege and Saint Louis Expositions 94 

Phases of the Extension Work at South Athol 100 

Four of the Camps at the Morgan Memorial, South Athol 

Farm 108 

Rev. Edgar J. Helms, D.D., Superintendent and Pastor 112 

Rev. William M. Gilbert, Associate Pastor 114 

Heads of Departments 116 

Dr. Helms, Rev. Mr. Gilbert, and Their Corps of Salaried 

Workers 120 



PREFACE 

When" I was asked to write the story of Morgan Memorial, 
I readily consented. I saw in this an opportunity to make 
known to the public one of the most remarkable institutions 
of the country. Located in a section of Boston that is ninety- 
seven per cent of foreign extraction, which was known at one 
time as the red-light district, with saloons and places of vice 
abounding, Morgan Memorial has projected itself into the life 
of the neighborhood and literally transformed it. While it has 
opposed righteousness to sin, it has at the same time gone about 
doing good in a ministry of love, extending the helping hand to 
the poor, giving work to the unemployed, sheltering little ones, 
offering recreational opportunities to youth, visiting the sick 
and the unfortunate, and bringing the wayward to the knowl- 
edge of the redeeming influences of the gospel. For Morgan 
Memorial is at once social center, children's settlement, industrial 
plant, rescue mission and church — one of the most striking enter- 
prises in city evangelization to be found in America. 

One who has studied the institution carefully is not surprised 
to learn that the fame of it has spread and the effectiveness of 
its ministry has become so widely known that other cities are 
planning to duplicate it. As a charity thoroughly scientific, true 
to the sanest principles of social service, and withal religious, 
it is a happy union of those elements which even separately have 
already proved a blessing in many cities. If the following pages 
should bring about, on the one hand, still greater loyalty and 
support for Morgan Memorial on the part of its many friends, 
that it may further expand, while giving, on the other, to 
generous and devoted laymen in other centers an impulse for 
the duplication of the institution, the writer of these chapters 
will be satisfied. 

This has been a labor of love on his part, undertaken because 
he believed in the institution and its devoted superintendent, 

9 



10 PREFACE 

Dr. E. J. Helms, and his associates. Such revenue as may be 
derived from the volume is to be devoted entirely to the insti- 
tution, that by that much its work may be advanced. 

Whatever any may say concerning the manner of its recital, 
the tale itself must move one profoundly. While it emphasizes 
the depth to which man may fall, and the wickedness that men 
may practise on their fellows for gain, it brings out also in bold 
relief the possibilities lying within the most degraded, and the 
heroic qualities of noble manhood and womanhood in those who 
give themselves without hope of reward in this world to lives 
of unselfish sacrifice and devotion, that they may help the un- 
fortunate among their fellows. Forsaking all, they are seen 
surrounded by poverty, filth, disease, sin, vice, and struggling 
against all of this, lifting old and young to lives of purity and 
nobility. In that day shall He say: "I was a hungered, and ye 
gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a 
stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was 
sick, and ye visited me : I was in prison, and ye came unto me." 
Such is the story of Morgan Memorial. 

Aside from personal investigation and observation and various 
reports by expert sociologists, which I have carefully studied, 
I am indebted for some facts concerning the South End and 
Morgan Memorial to "The City Wilderness/' by Eobert A. Woods 
of the South End House; The Survey of Boston Methodism, by 
the Commission on Boston Methodism ; The Present and Future 
of Morgan Memorial, by Edward A. Buss, consulting engineer, 
and investigations by Miss Oriola Eleanor Martin, sometime 
fellow in psychology in Wellesley and Eadcliffe, and investigator 
for the Women's Educational and Industrial Union of Boston. 
I am also under great obligation to Miss Ida M. Moody, of the 
editorial staff of Zion's Herald, for valuable suggestions and 
assistance in the final preparation of the manuscript. 

E. C. E. Dorion. 



CHAPTER I 

A Glimpse op the Institution 

There were over one hundred of them — one hundred and 
seven, in fact, to be exact— and a hard-looking lot they were. 
It was early in the morning and one could see that many of the 
motley crowd had been out all night. The lines of dissipation 
were in the features of many, suffering, dejectedness, and that 
something that marks the down-and-out, and in all the wretched- 
ness of poverty. It was an aggregation to stir the heart with 
pity or revulsion; it was hard at first to tell which. For here 
one stood face to face with manhood in bankruptcy. 

Such was the scene that one could have beheld one cold 
morning in January, 1915, in a little chapel at the corner of 
Shawmut Avenue and Corning Street in the South End of 
Boston. The European war was at its height, and the New 
England metropolis was feeling the pinch of hard times as it 
had not for years. Every institution, public and private, that 
could possibly offer relief to the unfortunate was taxed to its 
utmost. And nowhere in the city could that help be found more 
readily and more heartily than where the one hundred and 
seven broken-down men were gathered this rough morning in 
midwinter. The heartsick and the hungry knew it, for Morgan 
Memorial had gained for itself a name as the friend of the 
friendless. This scene in the chapel was but a repetition of 
what throughout the long winter months took place every morn- 
ing — the down-and-out looking for help. But of that more 
later. For now let this be the door through which we pass into 
the most remarkable institution yet devised to minister to the 
needy ones of soeiety. 

It is not too much to say that nowhere else will one find such 
a place as Morgan Memorial. It is church and social center, 

11 



12 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

children's settlement and industrial plant, rescue mission and 
educational institution, and much more, all in one. We have 
passed through the chapel where the morning's group of broken- 
down men are met with kindly words, given something to eat, 
spoken to in a spirit of Christian friendliness and optimism. 
Many are given an opportunity to do an honest day's work, out 
of the proceeds of which they will be able to save the family 
from eviction, perhaps, or to supply food for the loved ones who 
have been looking squarely into the face of the gaunt wolf for 
many days. And now we pass into the other parts of the 
building. 

Morgan Memorial is activity itself expressed in the terms of 
human need. Thus it is varied in its ministry. The uninitiated 
visiting the institution for the first time is impressed with this 
outstanding fact. As a community center it takes in the whole 
of life. If the unfortunates are helped in their distress, others 
who have not much of this world's goods, but whose aspirations 
are beyond the limits of the narrow tenement and its unfavorable 
surroundings of saloon, billiard room and dance hall, find here 
opportunity for social life, development, wholesome recreation, 
and spiritual uplift. Here is a temperance saloon, for instance, 
where men may be found every night in the week gathered 
around checker tables, or reading, chatting, having a good time 
one with the other, while over yonder at "the bar" a former 
saloon-keeper sells coffee and doughnuts and other things of the 
"quick lunch" variety at a nominal price. It is a jovial, friendly 
atmosphere without the poisoning liquor and its degrading 
influences. 

Again, in another room are gathered together a company of 
women. It is "club day," and these, too, of the South End 
have their meeting, where social life is enjoyed and topics of 
interest and profit are discussed. Or, stepping into still another 
part of the building, you will find yourself in a small suite — 
three rooms, in fact — furnished and arranged as a model suite 
for this section of the city should be. Of what use to make it 
otherwise ? Not for these to have the furnishings and the space 



A GLIMPSE OF THE INSTITUTION 13 

of the wealthy. Then why have a suite on a large scale ? Here 
we have rooms like those in which the people live who frequent 
Morgan Memorial, only they are arranged as they should be — 
models in every way, in which children are taught proper house- 
keeping, and through them the parents. Yes, the children, 
for Morgan Memorial is a children's settlement on an extensive 
plan. This is salvage at the right end of life, and among the 
boys and girls and for them the best of efforts are extended by 
this worthy institution. There are classes where they are 
taught music and painting and other arts, all at nominal fees, 
for self-respect is preserved ; nothing is given for nothing. There 
is a gymnasium, help in the training of the body that the 
future generation may be strong and healthy. And, moreover, 
as the climax of it all, there is the Children's Church, where 
services for the little ones, and for them only, are held each 
Sunday. 

Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Morgan Memorial is 
its industrial work. The stranger who approaches the institu- 
tion from the outside is impressed with the extensiveness of the 
plant. A church in appearance? Yes, and yet no. There at 
the corner is the original building surmounted by the cross, 
illuminated at night and proclaiming to all that here the friend- 
less may find a haven. Thrown across the sky are these words : 

L 
I 

E 
E 
LOVE HOPE 
E 
A 
I 
T 
H 
BROTHERHOOD 

MORGAN MEMORIAL 



14 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

Yes, this is a church. But what is that at one side? An 
employment bureau, a store, a manufacturing plant? All of 
that and more merged into one. Six stories high rises the 
building at the left. As you approach it, you find yourself 
before a most attractive store — a department store, if you please, 
varied in its appointments, where one may purchase almost 
anything desired in the way of wearing apparel and household 
furnishings. And that at figures within the reach of those 
whose purses are decidedly limited. A marvelous phase of 
work is this part of the institution, for the department store 
is the marketing end of busy industry spread over the remain- 
ing floors of the plant. Go from room to room, and you will 
see the men and women at work. They sew, they cobble, they 
work at the carpenter's bench, they make rugs, they tailor, they 
do all manner of work, producing that which, as a finished 
product, is to be found on the ground floor. 

To wander through this part of the building is indeed to have 
one's eyes opened to the possibilities of human ingenuity actuated 
by love — consecrated initiative, if you will. From all parts of 
Greater Boston cast-off clothing, worn-out shoes, broken fur- 
niture, old papers, are gathered. And here in this modern 
industrial plant it is disinfected, sorted, worked over, repaired, 
made salable, transformed, to go forth on its mission of help- 
fulness. Doubly does it do it, for those who remake are those 
whom we saw a few moments ago in that chapel below. The 
down-and-out are put at work. The unemployed are given a 
way of helping themselves. For Morgan Memorial in its in- 
dustries speaks the last word in scientific charity. As a social 
center it meets the severest demands of the most exacting social 
creed. Let not this be forgotten — and it will not be as we go 
into this part of the work more in detail in later chapters. 

No one must think of this institution, however, simply in 
terms of temperance saloon, children's settlement, club room, 
and industrial plant. Of centers of this kind, in one way and 
another, there are many. Morgan Memorial stands distinctive 
because through it all there runs the religious note. This, in 




DRESSMAKING CLASS 
SUMMER VACATION SCHOOL 



A GLIMPSE OF THE INSTITUTION 15 

fact, is the dominating impulse of the whole work. When we 
stepped into that chapel, what did we hear? What was it that 
we saw ? Merely coffee and rolls ? Only laughter and a chance 
for a job? Nothing of the kind. There, before those poor un- 
fortunates, stood an earnest man, prophetlike, and to them he 
spoke of the Friend who never forsakes. It is said that Elizabeth 
Barrett Browning asked Charles Kingsley one day the secret 
of his life. The great man looked the poet in the eyes and 
remarked, "I had a friend." A friend — that is the secret of 
many a success, and a friend is often the explanation of many a 
failure. This man tells these who are gathered before him of 
that Friend who came to seek and to save that which was lost. 
They are fed, are these hungry ones — fed with bread for their 
physical bodies, and fed with that bread that satisfieth the soul. 
And it is all done so naturally, with such an absence of cant, 
that these men, many of whom have often cursed at the very 
mention of religion, are touched and profoundly moved. 

In that little room yonder back of the chapel that prophet- 
man will meet many of these a little later and upon his knees 
will lead them to the throne of grace. For you see this is the 
objective of Morgan Memorial — to make men. Would they 
apply salve to a social sore ? Of a truth, they may, with a little 
charity, a litle work, a little recreation. But not enough this. 
Beneath and within are found radical ills in many cases, and 
here the Balm itself must be applied that alone will heal. They 
believe in social regeneration at Morgan Memorial because they 
are profoundly convinced of the possibility of personal salvation. 

And here we have the keynote to the entire enterprise — it is 
that of a sane, healthy, spiritual service. It is this, in fact, that 
has made the institution what it is. Morgan Memorial has been 
a power in the regeneration of the South End because it has 
reached men. Evil it has fought; sin it has grappled with; 
misery it has faced. It has gone at its work with determination, 
determined to redeem that part of the city of Boston where it 
is located. How well it has done its work the transformed 
nature of this section is itself a most eloquent testimony. 



16 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

And in the doing of this it has expanded. It grew first in 
its own surroundings, bringing under its control building after 
building that adjoined it in order to erect upon the land its 
enlarged structures. Then it went beyond the confines of the 
city, and out among the hills in South Athol it planted its 
banner in a settlement where children and adults find rest, 
recreation, and re-creation. Here the broken-down, redeemed, 
are given a home for months at a time, far from the temptations 
of the city, working on farm and in rug factory, that they may 
become strong to go out and battle with life once again. Here 
children are brought during the summer to be given an oppor- 
tunity to grow healthy from the hot canons of the city, next to 
nature's heart. Here tired mothers come, that they, too, may 
have the blessings and tonic of God's out-of-doors. South Athol ! 
It is the Father's garden spot for the upbuilding of South End 
life. 

But enough of this bird's-eye view of Morgan Memorial. 
Such it is in miniature. And through it all there runs the 
personality of one man. Who was it said that institutions are 
but the lengthened shadows of man? He spoke truly. Such 
is the fact at Morgan Memorial, and that man is Edgar J. Helms. 
Another had dropped the seed into the ground; others had 
nourished it; but to him has it been given to water it, to see it 
grow, to fashion the plant, to give to the twig the bend it should 
have, and the tree in all of its beauty and grandeur stands a 
monument to his industry and devotion. It is of a truth a tree 
literally for the healing of the nations, as we shall see as our 
story progresses. Hither the sons of many climes find their 
way in their distress and need, and here they receive that for 
which they seek. 

Little did Henry Morgan know what would come out of the 
work of his hands back there in 1859, when he first began work 
in Boston. He builded better than he knew. This because, in 
the providence of God, an able master workman was found to 
carry on the enterprise at the crucial period of its history. Let 
the story of this work now be told in detail. It is a chapter from 



A GLIMPSE OF THE INSTITUTION 17 

the acts of the apostles written in this, the second decade of the 
twentieth century. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of 
the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Social 
service this, shot through and through by the Spirit of Christ. 
And it could not be otherwise, under the leadership of Edgar 
J. Helms. 



CHAPTEE II 

The South End 

If one is to understand Morgan Memorial, he must first of all 
become acquainted with that part of Boston in which it is 
located. Without any exaggeration whatever, it may be asserted 
that here is one of the most cosmopolitan districts in the world. 
Some twenty nationalities elbow one another within the limits 
of this section of the city and total in such numbers that no 
less than ninety-seven per cent of this population is of foreign 
extraction. Would you face a foreign missionary problem on 
American soil, here you will find it in the thousands who throng 
about the Morgan, as the institution is at times affectionately 
called. 

The South End has about it features, let it be remarked at 
the outset, that characterize it and stamp it with individuality. 
It is unlike almost any other section of any great city that may 
be mentioned; and yet it resembles many, and that because of 
its peculiar cosmopolitan nature. Other sections are Italian, 
or Jewish, or Negro, or contain two or three nationalities in 
preponderating numbers; the South End is Italian, and Negro, 
and several other nationalities, not forgetting always those who 
must be classed as Americans. Other sections are perhaps more 
foreign than the South End in the sense that they give the 
color and create the atmosphere of some particular Old World 
community, due to the large number of one race there to be 
found. In such places nationalities crowd in, and live in and 
to themselves, alien in spirit and custom — foreign cities within 
the American municipality. The South End is new America 
in the making, the isolation for the most part broken down, 
various peoples mingling together, many races cast into the 
melting pot. A new race is being fashioned here. Its peculiar 

18 



THE SOUTH END 19 

moral and spiritual complexion is the concern of Morgan Memo- 
rial and other institutions located at these crossroads of the 
nations. This must not be forgotten. 

The area covered by the district commonly known as the 
South End is about half a square mile in extent. In it live 
some fifty thousand people. One cannot say that this is a 
congested section, looked at from one standpoint. Jacob Eiis 
and other social workers since have written of some far worse 
than that, and spots may yet be found where humanity is herded 
together in much larger numbers; but this is not the point at 
issue. What is to be noted now is that here in the South End of 
Boston, where fifty thousand people are crowded together, many 
living on the verge of poverty, and often in actual want, sur- 
rounded by saloons and places catering to the lower instincts, is 
splendid soil for vice, a good breeding place for degradation, 
misery, and the attending social problems. 

It is not by accident that the peculiar title placed upon this 
volume found its way there. The story of Morgan Memorial is 
the tale of a long, incessant, never-flagging, determined fight 
against sin, disease, poverty, and crime. It is the romance of 
redemption. Even where to-day stands the greater part of the 
institution there were yesterday, when the Morgan was born, 
rendezvous of sin, houses of ill-fame, and vice in all its damning 
splendor. 

When they were tearing down the building where the indus- 
trial plant of Morgan Memorial has since been erected, I chanced 
one day to be inspecting the work in some of its departments. 
The conversation with Dr. Helms turned to his early years in 
the South End and the transformation that had since taken 
place. 

"Did you have, much trouble with the vice forces?" 

It was odd that this particular question should have been 
asked just at that time. For we were looking at the men as they 
were demolishing one of the buildings. They were just then 
tearing down an upstairs room across the alley. The window 
frames had been taken out and the walls were being broken. 



20 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

"Right in that room, in that very room that they are tearing 
down now/ 7 said the doctor, "I had one of the most trying 
experiences of my career." And he went on to tell of being 
called out at night to go to this place given over to prostitution 
to see a woman in trouble. She had been brought up in a 
good home in the old country, over in Scotland, her father and 
mother devoted Christians. But temptation had come into 
her life and she had been weak. Then sin and gradually vice, 
until she had fallen to the lowest depths. And now? It was 
all dark, so dark — despair, heart-rending, awful ! And she had 
called in Dr. Helms. 

It was in that room where the men were at work that very 
minute that this tragedy had been enacted. It is many years 
since then, and that den of iniquity has disappeared, followed 
by others of a like nature which at that time infested the neigh- 
borhood. For Morgan Memorial has been a redemptive force 
in the South End. Which is not saying that the whole district 
has been entirely transformed, all the influences of wickedness 
eliminated. Not at all. But it is saying that the South End of 
Boston is not to-day the plague spot that once it was, and that 
among the forces that have made for the change, a very special 
place must be given to Morgan Memorial. 

The South End is a place of cheap tenements and lodging 
houses. It was once, back fifty years or more ago, the abiding 
place of the rich. Here the well-to-do had their homes, and to 
this day many of these dwellings stand, monuments to a grandeur 
that once was, pathetic in their eloquent proclamation of the 
deterioration that has come to pass in this part of the city. 
As the years have come and gone and new peoples have come 
in, the mansions of other generations have become the sheltering 
places of the poor. Evolution, or devolution, has done its work. 

Would you see this district for yourself, and read the record 
of that strange process of the years ? Then take a stroll through 
the streets about the Morgan, and with deaconess or other 
social worker step into some of these homes. You will note 
how markedly many of them have fallen from their first estate. 







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SUMMER KINDERGARTEN 
CLASS IN HAMMOCK-MAKING 



THE SOUTH END 21 

While the evidences of poverty, or of very limited resources 
indeed, will greet you on every hand, you will see in these large 
rooms elaborate chandeliers, marble mantels, attractive stair- 
cases — the remnants of days when culture, wealth, and refine- 
ment lived here. And now ? Oftentimes elegance amid squalor, 
poverty amid the marks of opulence. ? Tis the tragedy of life 
indeed ! 

A stroll through this district reveals most forcibly the field in 
which Morgan Memorial has been located. If opportunity for 
service is to be the measure of the worth of an institution, none 
could ask for more than here is offered. If results are to be 
the criterion of success — and why should they not be ? — then let 
the crown be awarded to the Morgan. In a field extensive, 
and marked by demands most exacting, this institution, social, 
industrial, and religious, has related itself to the work in hand 
in a manner that is the marvel of all who have come at all 
closely into touch with it. 

As one walks the streets of the South End, he is impressed 
with the many racial traits there encountered. The fact of the 
matter is, however, that the largest single factor of the popula- 
tion is Irish, with the Jews second. There are also a large 
number of British-Americans and Negroes. Side by side with 
these live, in lesser numbers, but in no insignificant groups by 
any means, English, German, Scotch, Italian, Greek, Syrian, 
Scandinavian, French, Austrian, and Armenian. The section 
also has its Chinatown. In some of the schools every European 
nation is represented. Morgan Memorial, which has made a 
thorough canvass of this section to ascertain the various nation- 
alities, states that all continents except Australia have con- 
tributed to this population. About three per cent of the people 
are of Anglo-Saxon origin, and not more than five per cent 
are Protestant. In order to keep a record of these, different 
colored cards are used, each representing a nationality. The 
case which contains these cards is indeed interesting to behold. 
The workers at Morgan Memorial call it their "rainbow of 
promise," and such it has proved, as judged by the results which 



22 THE BEDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

have followed from the work of this social and religious center. 

But what are these people ? What do they do ? The economic 
conditions are of utmost importance, if one is to understand the 
section fully and secure some conception of the work to be 
done. First, we find here laborers in large numbers. A careful 
census reveals that cooks and waiters, unskilled help which cares 
for office buildings and stores, laundry workers, and clerks 
make this their home. In other words, the South End is peopled, 
for the most part, by those who are among the untrained. A 
distinction must be made, however, as to those who live in the 
lodging houses. Here are large numbers of young Americans 
who have come from the country to start out in various lines 
of industrial life. This section of the city, then, is composed 
of those of very limited economic resources. Eeverses, hard 
times, loss of position, sickness, are veritable disasters which 
they are not prepared to meet. To all such Morgan Memorial 
comes with its ministry of helpfulness. 

It must not be hastily deduced, however, that this institution 
is the only one at work in this part of the city. Several other 
very important missions and social settlements, doing splendid 
philanthropic work, are located in the South End, some of them 
widely known. These include the South End House, Denison 
House, the Lincoln House, Barnard Memorial, Wells Memorial 
Industrial and Labor Settlement and St. Stephen's Church and 
mission, the Y. W. C. A. dormitory and restaurant, the Boston 
Newsboys' Club, the Boston Industrial Home, Fifteen-Cent 
Lodging House, the Salvation Army Palace Hotel, the South 
Bay Union Settlement, and the Hale House Settlement. All 
of these have their distinctive tasks, and splendidly are meeting 
the responsibilities devolving upon them. The social and reli- 
gious workers have indeed given of their very best to this part 
of the New England metropolis. And among them all Morgan 
Memorial takes its place, marked by its unique ministry both 
in its scope and in its spirit. As frankly social as any, as in- 
tensely religious as others, it combines the best elements of 
all — the last word as a social center, and the embodiment of 



THE SOUTH END 23 

the most thoroughgoing spirituality. While it sends its workers 
to these inhabitants of marble-manteled tenements to relieve 
their poverty and their suffering, and serves by its social and 
educational ministry young and old, it preaches to the thousands, 
interests in things religious the children and the youth, and 
extends a helping hand to the down-and-out. Such is the South 
End, and such the place of Morgan Memorial in its life and 
needs. 



CHAPTER III 



Beginnings 



Unique as an institution, Morgan Memorial is unique also in 
its inception. It was born in the mind and heart of one who 
was noted at once for his eccentricity of character and his 
devotion to humanity. He had a deep sense of responsibility to 
God and a firm reliance upon his own leadings irrespective of 
the claims of regularity from the ecclesiastical standpoint. He 
saw his fellow men limited by their environment and their early 
opportunities, beheld the effect upon them of ignorance and sin, 
and, brooding upon these, conceived in his soul the work which 
through the years has developed into this most marvelous 
institution. 

It was back in the early '60's that Henry Morgan launched 
the enterprise which to-day bears his name. With the courage 
that has always marked true leadership in Christian work, he 
went down into the South End, crowded then with sin and 
degradation, a center of vice and of the underworld. Difficult 
indeed the task facing a religious organization in such a place 
as this! But then, when have the Wesleys, and the Booths, 
and the Hadleys, and the Taylors feared sin even in its worst 
forms? It is in the midst of it that the greatest spiritual vic- 
tories have been won. 

Morgan Memorial was first of all a religious organization 
pure and simple, planted where saloons abounded, with dives 
and houses of prostitution on every side. Like that church of 
old of which John writes, it was located where Satan had his 
throne. Could a better place be chosen for effective spiritual 
operations ? To its workers it might be said, as was announced 
to the volunteer at the battle's front, "Go in anywhere; the 

24 



BEGINNINGS 25 

fighting is good all along the line." And from that day to this 
the fight has been kept up. What victories ! There are volumes 
in the mere recounting. 

But who was this Henry Morgan? Whence came he? How 
did he happen to be in Boston? Interesting questions these, 
and worthy of answer early in the annals of the remarkable 
institution that was born out of the labor of his soul. The 
first fact that we note about him, marking conspicuously the 
man, was that ecclesiastically he was entirely irregular. He 
was known as an independent Methodist Episcopalian, which, 
being interpreted, means that he was not taking regular appoint- 
ments at the hands of the episcopal authorities, but worked where 
he pleased and under such conditions as he desired. A free 
lance, he preached wherever he deemed wise, and here in the 
South End he found his chief field of operation. The years 
have come and gone since then, and Morgan Chapel has become 
Morgan Memorial, and the work has expanded from a religious 
service until it covers practically the whole wide range of modern 
social activities. 

This is as good a place as any, perhaps, to tell of the eccentric 
individual to whose devotion, consecration, and farsightedness 
this unique institution owes its birth. Henry Morgan was born 
in Newtown, Connecticut, March 7, 1825, and died in Boston, 
March 23, 1884. He had known the hardships of life, his mother 
being left a widow in great poverty when he was but a small 
child. Struggling against all manner of adversities, he managed 
to secure an education sufficient to enable him to teach. He was 
only sixteen years of age when he began his teaching career in 
his home town, a career that he followed for several years. But, 
like Wesley and his associates of the Holy Club in Oxford, he 
felt called of God to labor for the outcasts, and he began to 
visit prisons and asylums and poorhouses in the Eastern and 
Southern States. Everywhere his ministry was attended with 
success. Later he became a temperance evangelist, and in this 
again success crowned his efforts. In one year, at a time which 
was not particularly favorable to temperance agitation, he se- 



26 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

cured in New England no less than 19,450 pledges, largely 
among school children. 

One of the peculiarities of Mr. Morgan was that he insisted 
on laboring without pay. He made no charges for his services, 
but he so endeared himself to the people among whom he 
worked that they cared for him and bestowed gifts upon him 
so liberally that he was able constantly to lay aside some funds. 
After having devoted himself for several years to this itinerating 
work in behalf of the unfortunate and for the cause of temper- 
ance — during which he traveled extensively, not only in New 
England, but in the South also — he returned to Newtown, so 
seriously ill that it was thought that he was about to die. He 
rallied, however, and during a long convalescence he resolved to 
become a preacher of the gospel. Was it in answer to prayer? 
For it was to this, in fact, that his mother had dedicated him 
when he was yet but a child. However, unexpected complica- 
tions resulted from his preaching. A biography of him says 
that "he found his neighbors and the ministers jealous of his 
success, and they would not grant him a license." 

Naturally, this was a keen disappointment and a sore trial 
both to himself and to his mother. Finally, Mr. Morgan 
decided to preach without a license. He began with revival serv- 
ices in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and in two years had gathered 
about himself a good congregation, erected a church building, 
and dedicated it. Then they gave him a license. Mr. Morgan 
then felt that he must go to Boston. He preached his way 
through, holding revival services in New London, Norwich, 
Westerly, and Providence. Everywhere great success attended 
his efforts. Arriving in Boston, he opened a mission in Music 
Hall. This was on February 27, 1859 — a date which really 
marks the inception of what has become Morgan Memorial. 
For out of these meetings there later developed the social 
service work which, inaugurated in the Franklin School building, 
was afterward continued in the structure which stood where 
the institution that bears his name has since been erected. A 
prophet had come to the South End. A new force had arrived 




THE REV. HENRY MORGAN 
The Founder 



BEGINNINGS 27 

to combat evil, to help men and women in their poverty, their 
sin, and their every need, physical, moral, and spiritual. 

In introducing himself to the Boston audience that greeted 
him on that memorable day in February, Mr. Morgan revealed 
the intense passion of his being, the power that actuated him in 
devoting his life to the less fortunate among his fellows. "My 
object in Music Hall," he said, "is to present the gospel to the 
working classes and to open a mission for the poor in some part 
of the city. This can be done by no one denomination and by 
no common missionary arrangement. If you say there are some 
free seats in the churches of Boston, still the self-respect of an 
American mechanic will not receive as a gift what others pur- 
chase; and if he cannot compete with others in seat and dress 
for his family, he will stay at home. Nothing can meet the 
demand but a hall, where all seats are considered alike and all 
persons are on a common level. It alarms my friends to think 
that without a single backer, or a single dollar pledged, I should 
come, an entire stranger in the city, and while other preachers 
have their established churches and members covering the whole 
ground, that I should hire this hall when three weeks' rent would 
cost more than I ever had for preaching in all my life. Yet 
such is the case. I may be mistaken in the generosity of 
Boston ; but, as seven years ago, when but a mere boy, I lectured 
in Tremont Temple and had the expenses refunded to me, I 
have yet to learn that in the same community bread cast upon 
the waters may not again return." 

His experiences were at times thrilling. After having opened 
the services in Music Hall, he preached one sermon each Sunday 
there, one in what was known as Wait's Hall in South Boston, 
and one in the evening in a lager beer saloon on Washington 
Street. The saloon would hold about two hundred persons, 
and the bar was open at the time of preaching. The first night 
there were not sober ones enough to keep the drunken ones still ! 
"Thus," he writes, "two antagonistic spiritualities were striving 
for the mastery." After preaching had continued here for 
several weeks, the proprietor told Mr. Morgan that his customers 



28 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

were leaving, and he would have to take the hall altogether or 
give up preaching in it, for the two machines would not run 
in the same groove. "When he made the grand confession," 
adds Mr. Morgan, "that rum must succumb to the power of the 
gospel, it was the proudest moment of my life. The thought 
of bearding the lion in his den filled me with confidence and 
hope. I said, 'Now I shall succeed in Boston.' " 

And he did succeed. It could not well be otherwise when one 
considers the faith of the man. It is hard to find anywhere 
the exemplification of greater faith than that which he himself 
records in telling of the beginning of his work in the South 
End. "Many thought my taking that hall a rash act," he writes, 
"and so it was, and I staked my all upon it. Well do I remember 
one cold, rainy Sabbath morn, when rising from a painful, rest- 
less couch in a narrow attic in Essex Street, I found it was 
raining. I knew if I failed in this enterprise I should be branded 
as a fanatic and my enemies would rejoice to see their prophecies 
fulfilled. God alone could help me. That morning I arose 
and prayed; I prayed in the midst of the tempest, while the 
storm furiously rattled against my window. If the storm should 
continue I should have no audience and no assistance to carry 
me through another Sabbath, for my funds were getting low. 
Then farewell to Boston! In the midst of the pouring rain a 
robin flew upon a tree near my window in Newbury Place, back 
of Essex Street, and began to sing. As its shrill, piercing notes 
rose high above the storm, it fluttered its wings and shook off 
the fast-flowing rain, and still kept on singing. I was struck 
with surprise at its courage and joy. Ah, thought I, if this 
poor shivering robin can sing in such a cold, merciless storm, 
shall I despair? No! If God provides for the raven and the 
robin, he will not forsake the weakest of his saints! That 
moment my soul lighted up with joy. Light flashed upon my 
pillow like the lightness of noonday ; a halo of light shone round 
about me. Then I seemed to hear a voice saying, 'What doest 
thou here, Elijah? Lo, I am with you always, even unto the 
end of the world.' Oh, the calm, holy joy of that ecstatic 



BEGINNINGS 29 

moment! Oh, the peace of mind, the rapture of soul, and the 
quietude of my bodily frame! My nerves became quiet, pain 
fled away after a calm, refreshing sleep fell upon me. I awoke 
in time for meeting and looked from the window. Lo! the 
storm was gone, the sun shone brightly; I attended service, the 
audience was large, my spirit was free, a blessing attended the 
Word." 

The Boston Union Mission Society, out of which have grown 
the social activities and religious work of Morgan Memorial, 
was organized in May, 1859. The work of the society was 
inaugurated in the Franklin School building, and it included 
"a church, Sabbath school, night school, benevolent sewing 
circle, industrial agency for working women, and employment 
office." All the denominations were friendly toward the mission, 
and the enterprise thrived. The night school attracted between 
three hundred and four hundred pupils, who were taught by 
some twenty volunteer teachers. The genius of Mr. Morgan was 
revealed in the exhibitions which he had every now and then 
in connection with this school. On these occasions celebrities 
and members of the institution spoke from the same platform. 
Now it would be the mayor of the city who would deliver an 
address, and he would be followed by a newsboy; the superin- 
tendent of schools would come next to a coal picker, and a boot- 
black would speak before or after Wendell Phillips, or Mrs. 
Livermore, or Mrs. Julia Ward Howe. These were great occa- 
sions, and many of the boys graduated from this school found 
their way into the honorable pursuits of life. 

It is an interesting story that is attached to Mr. Morgan's 
purchase of the building which became the nucleus of the ex- 
tensive plant now known as Morgan Memorial. Governor Claflin, 
who was a very generous contributor to the mission, told Mr. 
Morgan one day, in the year 1868, that James Freeman Clarke's 
church on Indiana Place was to be sold next day at auction. 
He said that Mr. Morgan might bid as high as $22,000 for it, 
and that he, the governor, would back him even to the extent of 
taking the building off his hands later, should it be impossible 



30 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

for him to carry the debt. We will let Mr. Morgan himself tell 
the story of that purchase. It was crucial in the history of the 
institution that has meant so much to the South End. 

"The bidding/' he says, "was spirited up to $20,000; then I 
held back, and let others bid. The auctioneer wondered why I 
did not bid further. He cried, 'Going, going!' Then looked 
at me, then eyed the trustees to get a cue. I knew that some of 
the bids were fictitious and others were from irresponsible men. 
They winked as much to the auctioneer. Why I did not bid with 
the governor to aid me was the question. I stated if I could 
choose my terms of payment, I would give $20,400 for it. It 
was immediately struck down to me. Governor Claflin's shadow 
at that auction was worth more than $2,000 to me. After pur- 
chasing the chapel, friends came in numbers to congratulate 
me. One gentleman offered me $50, and a marble slab, provided 
he could have inscribed upon it Morgan Chapel. The offer was 
accepted by the unanimous vote of the society." 

Although Governor Claflin stood back of Mr. Morgan finan- 
cially, the latter paid for the church and land himself largely 
from the proceeds of his lectures and the sale of his books. His 
work in the new headquarters took on new spirit and new scope, 
and impressed Boston as it had not before. He died, as stated 
above, in the fifty-ninth year of his age, on March 23, 1884, 
and on his tombstone in Mount Auburn Governor Claflin had 
these words inscribed: "An earnest preacher and a beloved 
pastor of the poor." 

After his death, it was found that Mr. Morgan had made an 
odd disposition of the chapel property. This property, which 
consisted of the church building and two adjacent houses, was 
left to the Benevolent Fraternity of Churches, which is the city 
missionary society of the Boston Unitarians, on condition that 
the work should be in charge of a Methodist minister of the New 
England Conference. Expressed in another way, the Unitarians 
were to furnish the business sagacity and the Methodists the 
religious zeal for perpetuating the work begun by Mr. Morgan. 
There was a provision also in the will that in case either party 



BEGINNINGS 31 

should fail to perform its trust, the property was to revert to 
the Boston Young Men's Christian Association. 

Sufficient is it to say at this time relative to this union of 
forces, that for several years Methodists and Unitarians worked 
hand in hand, meeting both the financial and the spiritual re- 
sponsibilities of the enterprise. In order to clear the title to 
the property, however, and to bring the entire control of the 
ever-increasing work under one head, it was finally decided, in 
1912, to allow the whole institution to pass into the control of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. This does not mean, it must 
be said, that only the Methodist Episcopal Church is to be 
represented in the governing board of the organization. It 
means, as a matter of fact, that instead of the board of trustees 
being composed of Unitarians and Methodists only, its scope 
has been enlarged so as to include representatives of other de- 
nominations as well. Following the death of Mr. Morgan, Eev. 
C. L. Gould was appointed to the work. He was succeeded by 
Eev. N. W. Jordan, and he in turn by Rev. B. P. Johnston. 
Eev. E. P. King came next, and then Eev. I. B. Schreckengast, 
who was followed, in 1895, by Eev. Dr. Edgar J. Helms, under 
whose inspiring leadership and splendid administration the 
work has taken on the proportions that have given it the 
prominent place that it holds among the great institutional 
centers of America. 



CHAPTER IV 

The Rescue Work 

If there is one phase of work with which the name of Morgan 
Memorial is especially associated it is that of rescue. The 
human wreckage that floats upon the surface in such a quarter 
as the South End has made of this institution a mission to these 
unfortunates that has attracted attention from one end of the 
country to the other. While it is entirely inaccurate, as is 
clearly brought out in these pages, to speak of Morgan Memorial 
in the terms of the rescue mission only, it is nevertheless true 
that a very large part of its work is devoted to reaching the dere- 
licts. The Morgan is constantly a clinic in regeneration. 

A stranger visiting the religious services of the institution 
will be impressed with the tremendous earnestness of the workers 
from a spiritual standpoint. Preacher, singers, helpers, all are 
bending every effort to one end, and that is, to secure definite 
results. It is a well-nigh worn-out criticism, yet applicable all 
too often, that altogether too many religious workers fail at this 
very point. Preachers have no conversions ; but for that matter, 
they expect none. Morgan Memorial expects, and it receives. 
It goes out for the unconverted, and it reaches them. 

Sitting one day on the platform of the chapel, I had my 
attention drawn to certain ones in the congregation, men and 
women, normal in every way, even attractive, some of them. And 
as I looked about, a word spoken to me concerning this one or 
that gave me the key to remarkable personal histories. How- 
ever, by no means all of those who worship here have been among 
the broken by the power of sin. Morgan Memorial is a church 
in the fullest sense of the word, ministering to a large con- 
stituency, as we shall see later. But among these there were 
those who, alas ! had known the grip of sin and the worst of its 

32 




THE FRED H. SEAVEY SEMINARY SETTLEMENT 



THE EESCUE WORK 33 

results. Listening to the snatches of their histories, one in- 
stinctively exclaims, "Twice-born men these !" It is like stepping 
into the middle of a chapter of Harold Begbie's famous work. 

Let us attend one of these services. It will do us good. It 
will tone up the spiritual fervor just a trifle, and will serve to 
bring us into a little closer touch with our brothers of the other 
half. It is a company of singers that is gathered here ; with this 
you are impressed first of all. They sing as if they meant it and 
felt it. The heart, yea, the very soul is in it. Men are there 
with experiences. 

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! 

O what a foretaste of glory divine! 

Heir of salvation, purchase of God, 

Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood. 

How they sang it that first night when I sat among them to 
observe and note the way they conducted their services ! They 
had come in singly and by groups. Folks were there from 
various ranks. I found afterward that there were a few busi- 
ness men, a lawyer or two, women from residential sections of 
Greater Boston, friends these, who take a lively interest in the 
work of this worthy institution. And with them the others, 
residents of the neighborhood, brawny some, clean, smiling, 
wearing the marks of hard work, as if the world did not yield 
too easily to their efforts ; some tired mothers and weary fathers, 
some youths who early had learned the way of toil, and all 
happy, it seemed, rejoicing in the service, as if saying with the 
psalmist, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into 
the house of the Lord." And among these you could distinguish 
others who wore the marks of dissipation. They had tried the 
ways of sin and it had gone hard with them. There was no 
mistaking these among the others. They were marked men 
from the very first — marked by those who were observing, and 
marked by the workers of Morgan Memorial. 

But let the service proceed. We must not interrupt with our 
descriptions. They are still singing — not slow, sleepy singing; 



34 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

not languid, listless moaning of religious words, in more or less 
rhythmic tones. They are singing. 

My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine; 
For thee all the follies of sin I resign. 
My gracious Redeemer, my Saviour art thou, 
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus 'tis now. 

This could they sing with a will, for many there knew what it 
meant to follow the follies of sin, and then to resign them. 
They are singing, I say. 

I love to tell the story 

Of unseen things above, 
Of Jesus and his glory, 

Of Jesus and his love. 
I love to tell the story, 

Because I know 'tis true; 
It satisfies my longings, 

As nothing else can do. 

The pastor gives out a hymn or two ; then others ask for favor- 
ites. Like other services, you say? Yes, and yet no. There is 
a difference. But you must be in the atmosphere of it to note 
that difference. It is the difference, the indefinable something, 
that characterizes Water Street, in New York, for instance, 
that marks the service that is leading up to definite execution. 
You feel that something is going to happen. It is in the air. 
Everything is indicative of that. What? Well, we shall see. 

A short Scripture lesson was read by the pastor, and, like Ezra 
of old, he "gave the sense, and caused them to understand the 
reading." In passing, it might be remarked that this is not 
a bad example for some who are not working among the down- 
and-outs. The Scripture well read, with the sense interpreted 
by charm of enunciation and right inflection and emphasis — 
but this is not a lesson in the public reading of the Bible. All I 
would say here is that the Scripture at Morgan Memorial was 
interpreted so that all might understand it. Christ, the Good 
Shepherd, the lost sheep, the rescue, the tenderness of the 
Shepherd, his devotion — was it not all brought out? 



THE EESCITE WORK 35 

And then the prayer. Some men know how to pray. They 
talk with God as if they were sure that he heard, as if they 
expected that he would answer their petition. Such a prayer 
one hears in the pulpit of Morgan Memorial. The atmosphere 
is electrical with his presence, 

And heaven comes down our souls to greet, 
While glory crowns the mercy seat. 

It requires no imagination to see how the Spirit is even now 
at work in the hearts of these who have drifted in, or come 
there by special invitation. Even as the congregation bows in 
prayer, one can feel that something spiritually very real, reaching 
into the heart. There will be results to-night, rest assured. 

Do you wonder what the preaching is like? What does the 
preacher say? How does he develop his theme? Very brief 
the answer — it is simplicity itself. You see we are looking for 
definite, immediate results. If one desires to please the esthetic 
sense, why, that can be done. If one would be eloquent — what 
some call eloquent, the grandiose — that also is possible in a 
degree. But none of the platform tricks or of the ordinary 
stock-in-trade of the mere entertainer are to be found in these 
services. It is an appeal — straight, direct, colloquial at times, 
and yet never commonplace, nor cheap, nor trivial. Calculated 
to comfort and strengthen the weary disciples who have wrestled 
with temptation and faced their problems during the day, it 
finds its way likewise into the heart of the suffering sinner. 
Can he have such a Saviour as that ? Is such comfort possible 
for him? Was such love intended to reach even him, human 
wreck that he is? 

Those who have never attended a service of this kind have 
missed a phase of Christian work that never fails to put courage 
into the devout follower of the Master. Hear them as they 
talk of their experience, these who have tasted of the joys of 
salvation. "Six months ago I came in here a drunkard, and 
that night I found Christ." "Two years ago I was down-and- 
out, and he saved me." "Last year about this time I was a 



36 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

failure, without God, without hope, and I turned to Jesus, and 
peace came into my soul." Much the same as you hear in other 
services, you say ? Yes, perhaps, and yet no, again. There is a 
difference. These are no light experiences of sin of which these 
men are speaking. Some could tell of terrible days through 
which they passed. It is not the purpose of these pages to dwell 
upon tales of the dregs of society, nor to intimate that as one 
looks upon a congregation at Morgan Memorial, he sees nothing 
but jail birds, ex-convicts, reformed thieves, and robbers. Noth- 
ing of the kind. But there are those here who have "done time," 
men there who have broken practically every law of God and of 
society. And they are there eloquently, if pathetically, pro- 
claiming the power of God unto salvation to every one that 
believes. 

In fact, it is at this very point that one of the dangers that 
confront the reformed man or woman is to be seen. I heard 
one after another tell of his days of wickedness before he was 
converted, and I thought, "What stories ! How thrilling !" 
Then a few words of gentle rebuke fell from the lips of him who 
presided over the service. "We must not speak overmuch of 
our sins/' he said, gently but firmly, "as if they were matter for 
boasting." And I thought as he spoke in this tenor of the words 
of the song : 

But the bird with a broken pinion 
Never soars as high again. 

"It is not cause for boasting," he continued, "that we have 
sinned so terribly. We may rejoice over what God has done 
for us, that he has saved us from such depths; but let us do 
it modestly." Fitly spoken were these words, as were many 
others, driving home great truths. 

I am coming to the cross; 

I am poor, and weak, and blind; 
I am counting all but dross, 

I shall full salvation find. 



THE RESCUE WORK 37 

They were singing these familiar lines gently, softly, and down 
there at the front three men were kneeling. The invitation 
had been given, and these had made their way to the altar. The 
mourners' bench it was, the place of repentance, of sorrow for 
sin. Poor, wretched, broken-down fellows, how sin has used 
you ! The marks of it are upon you everywhere. Your features 
are those of dissipation, your clothes are torn. Sin, sin, nothing 
but sin! Can God do anything for such as you? But who 
would put an interrogation mark even at the sight of you who 
has really seen the work of the Spirit ! Certain it is that these 
workers at Morgan Memorial have no doubt. Miracles have 
been performed before their eyes too often. For here the blind 
receive their sight, the lame are made to walk, and the dead 
are brought back to life. Here among those who testified this 
very night the fruit of the miraculous power of the Gospel is 
to be seen. 

But the rescue work of the Morgan is not completed by any 
means when the service has been held and the wayward has 
committed himself to God. To get a man forward to the altar 
at nine o'clock, a wreck, a derelict, and to throw him out two 
hours later to shift for himself amid his boon companions of 
the saloon, and in surroundings where religion is the object 
of derision — to do this is almost to make mockery of rescue 
work. Some are permanently saved to themselves and to society 
in spite of such a course; but few indeed, in comparison to the 
number that should be. This consideration has led Morgan 
Memorial to devote itself to the construction of an intelligent 
rescue program that aims at conservation as well as salvation. 

Every phase of the work at the Morgan Memorial is frankly 
religious. This fact must never be lost sight of. A social center, 
it does not commit the blunder of acting as if soup kitchens 
were substitutes for salvation or work for religion. It is fully 
recognized that a hungry man must be fed, and it is also rea- 
lized that in some way many of the economic principles of 
the present age must gradually be changed, brought into closer 
accord with the teachings of Christ. Morgan Memorial is in 



38 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

thoroughgoing agreement with a program of social regeneration 
as proclaimed by the leaders of this Christian movement. And 
what is more, it exemplifies its faith by its work. 

That plant on Shawmut Avenue and Corning Street is the 
social program in operation, transcribed from the printed page 
and spoken word to brick and mortar and living men and women. 
But when we have said all that, we have by no means said all. 
Everything in these activities and in this industrial plant con- 
verges to one end — reaching men with the spirit of true religion. 
The object in view is to save men from their sins. In this is 
the institution like unto the Master himself who made his walks 
in the open field, his miracles, his ministry to human suffering, 
his feeding of the multitudes, but means to spiritual ends. 
Thus when men drop into the Temperance Saloon, or when they 
come seeking work, or when they are visited in their homes, 
or when they ask for relief, in some tactful, unobtrusive way 
the claims of religion are pressed upon them. They are made 
to feel that the real relief, the help which after all they are 
seeking, is to be found in the heavenly Friend. 

Having reached the unfortunate and brought them to an 
open decision for Christ, the next step is to throw about them 
those safeguards that will keep them from their old companions, 
save them from falling again into the pit from which they have 
been dug. In the Temperance Tower all manner of provision 
has been made for this purpose. Club rooms, dormitories, 
reading room, baths — the very latest and the very best of social 
appurtenances are here to be found, as described in another part 
of this volume. Sufficient is it to remark at this time that 
everything is done to help answer that part of the Lord's 
Prayer which says, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us 
from evil." Moreover, for those who need a special care there 
is the farm at South Athol, with its out-of-doors and its in- 
dustrial plant. Here men are kept for months at a time — until 
they are squarely on their feet again. 

Shall we return into that service? They are singing 







imi 




TEMPERANCE SALOON 
PRINTING PLANT 



THE EESCUE WOEK 39 

Down at the cross where my Saviour died, 
Down where for cleansing from sin I cried, 
There to my heart was the blood applied. 
Glory to his name! 

And now the service is over, the benediction has been pronounced. 
In groups the friends meet, and exchange Christian greetings, 
while all, or nearly all, take occasion to speak the kindly word 
of encouragement to those who this night have come to the 
cross. And they can speak with sincerity. For, you see, many 
of them came into the Morgan as pitifully wrecked as did these, 
and all know that this, after all, is their chief task in this salvage 
plant — to seek and to save those who are lost. 



CHAPTER V 



Some Who Have Prevailed 



What about the salvage work of which we have been reading ? 
Do those rescued human wrecks ever amount to anything? 
This is always a pertinent question stated in one form or 
another. Por after all there is very liable to be a large-sized 
interrogation point lurking in the back of our consciousness as 
we look at the down-and-out. This chapter is the answer, 
specific and definite, to the query. Human wrecks can be per- 
manently saved. Out from among these, noble manhood and 
womanhood has reappeared. Let none misunderstand the pur- 
pose of this chapter in its relation to the work of the institution 
as a whole. If you were to ask the workers at Morgan Memorial 
to name the most important phase of their varied enterprise, 
they would answer with one accord, "That among the children." 
Of that there can be no doubt. Prevention is better than cure; 
a whole life untarnished, uninjured, much better than one that 
has felt the nefarious influences of sin. But when you have 
said that, you have not exhausted the subject. The fact is, that 
failures are about you, and to these also Christianity has a 
mission. Por these, as for the children and for normal men 
and women, we must expend the best of effort. And Morgan 
Memorial finds its ministry complete only as it rescues the 
perishing, while it neglects not the others. 

The record of the rescue work of the Morgan is among the 
most thrilling that can be found anywhere. I have selected a 
few typical cases of those who have been reached to relate in a 
concrete way something concerning this phase of the work. 
Naturally, the names used in this recital are fictitious. The 
stories, however, are accurate in every particular, the records 

40 



SOME WHO HAVE PEEVAILED 41 

being on file among hundreds of others in the office of the 
institution. Let who will scoff as he reads this chapter. The 
sober-minded will find in it anew a verification of the reality 
of the religion of Jesus Christ and of its power over sin. 



Richard Brown was one of the worst drunkards that ever 
came under the influence of Morgan Memorial. He is known 
throughout the district, as for years he frequented the saloons 
of this section of the city, making one of them in particular his 
favorite haunt. Scores of times he came into the mission and 
was a disturbing influence — so much so, in fact, that he often 
had to be removed from the services. As a young man, he had 
married into a respectable family. He had a good trade, being 
a paperhanger and painter. This carried him, however, into 
many places of temptation, and gradually he got under the 
influence of drink, so that he became a veritable down-and-out. 
His home was broken up, and he wandered as a drunkard. One 
night he made up his mind that he would try religion, and see 
if there was anything in it. Somehow, to his surprise, some- 
thing got hold of him that first night after he made his decision, 
even though he did not become a converted man immediately. 
Finally, as he himself relates the story, he decided to surrender 
all, and God gave him a great victory. He is to-day identified 
with the institution, and has a particular influence in connection 
with the out-of-door meetings, as he is known throughout the 
neighborhood both for his former dissolute record and for the 
uprightness of the life which he now lives. He is a thorough- 
going Christian in every way. 



Concerning John Talbot, the record of Morgan Memorial 
says that "he was the most discouraging specimen we have 
ever been in touch with in connection with our work." When 
he wandered into the Temperance Saloon some six years ago 
his clothes were dirty and ragged, his feet were sticking out 



42 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

through his shoes, and he was drunk. Everything possible was 
done for him, but, though he came night after night, and the 
best of influences were thrown about him, still he would always 
go out to get drunk and come back sometimes in a beastly 
condition. He seemed to take no interest in anything except 
drink. Efforts were made to get him to work, but he refused. 
He became so degraded and his condition so filthy that it was 
finally thought best that he should stay away even from the 
Temperance Saloon. 

However, before this step was taken, it was decided to give 
him one more chance. Almost by force he was taken into one 
of the Thursday evening meetings, and after much persuasion, 
when the invitation was given, he went forward for prayers. 
And that very night, at that very first service, he won a victory 
over himself. From that day to this he has not touched a drop 
of liquor. He is now employed in the country, where they 
speak in the very highest terms of him. Thanksgiving Day 
last year he came back to Boston to visit his mother, who, in her 
old age, is now rejoicing that the son who caused her so much 
trouble has finally become a comfort and a source of cheer. 



Here is a case that takes one to the reformatory. Charles 
Hall has a record for dissipation matched by few. The family 
depending upon him is known to many of the charitable societies 
of Boston. He simply would not support them, and they were 
forced to seek help wherever they could find it. For several 
summers the children were taken to the fresh air farm at South 
Athol, and everything possible was done for Mrs. Hall, who was 
in exceedingly poor health. Every effort was made to reach 
Hall himself; but all to no avail. Many of the societies that 
had been supporting the Halls thought that the only thing that 
remained to be done was to break up the family and take care 
of the children in some institution. 

One day Hall was arrested and sent to Deer Island. While 
there behind the bars, he finally came to himself, making up his 



SOME WHO HAVE PEEYATLED 43 

mind that his only hope lay in God. When released, he went 
directly to Morgan Memorial. Under the influence of the 
institution, he remained sober for a while, but finally went to 
pieces again. The workers were convinced that he could never 
be won to sobriety if he remained among his old associates, and 
so they decided to give him employment in the industrial part 
of the institution. This held him for a time, but there was 
not in it the fundamental change that was needed to make 
him strong. Finally he gave himself completely to his heavenly 
Father, and he became a changed man. 

The entire family is now happy in its connection with Morgan 
Memorial, and he himself has become one of the most earnest 
workers in the institution. Many times old companions have 
tempted him. On several occasions he has feared that he 
would not have the strength to go by a certain familiar saloon, 
that the temptation might be too much for him, and he has 
returned to the Morgan to get some worker to kneel in prayer 
with him and then accompany him on his way home. He is 
now a member of the church, and happy in his new-found life. 



This is the story of a modern Magdalene. For years she 
had lived a vile life. On New Year's Day, 1912, she went to 
Morgan Memorial under an assumed name. After talking with 
her, the workers came to the conclusion that she desired to do 
right. They gave her a night's lodging, and the next day she 
worked to pay for it. This continued for two or three days 
more. Meanwhile she attended the religious services, and was 
urged to take a definite stand. One day she was lost sight of, 
did not, in fact, come back for more than a week. Then she 
returned for a day's work. An advertisement appeared in one 
of the daily newspapers which she desired to answer. It was 
for a position in an East Somerville home. When she went to 
apply for it, she frankly told the people all about her past life 
and her experience at Morgan Memorial, stating that she desired 
to live in a Christian home where she could be protected for a 



44 THE KEDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

time at least from the temptations which had been her undoing 
in the years past. The family willingly gave her the position. 
It was an ideal Christian home, and they threw about her the 
best of influences, allowing her also to attend the Tuesday and 
Thursday evening services at the Morgan. Meanwhile, friendly 
relations were restored between her and her family, whose home 
is in Vermont, and after a time she went back to her mother. 
The pastor of the Methodist church in that community, writing 
to Morgan Memorial, speaks of her fine Christian life. Her 
mother, who was one of the best-loved women in the church, 
died not long ago, and the pastor says that the daughter has 
taken the mother's place in the affections of the people. 



"I had talked with a number of persons who came to the 
store on the morning of which I am speaking," said one of the 
workers, "but one interested me more than all the others. She 
was a sad-faced little woman with a wild expression in her 
eyes. After waiting on her, I asked her in a friendly way if 
she lived near. 'Yes/ she answered quickly, 'I do/ Then I 
asked if I could call in her home some time, explaining that we 
often visit the people who come to the store, as we desire to 
make friends of them. I asked her where she went to church. 
Then she told me that she had been brought up in a Christian 
home where there were family prayers, and the Bible and the 
Sunday school were held sacred; but since her marriage — oh, 
well, what was the use of trying to do right anyway! Then 
she told me her story — the story of a broken heart, of disap- 
pointment, of a shattered home, of sin and despair. 

"When I asked her about her husband, she broke down and 
cried bitterly. She had married when a young girl and had 
lived happily for twelve years, only to discover at the end of 
that time that she had been betrayed, and that the man with 
whom she had been living had a lawful wife in a distant city. 
He fled. Bravely the woman tried to take up the burden that 
now devolved upon her, by hard work trying to support her 



SOME WHO HAVE PREVAILED 45 

children and doing everything possible to forget her sorrow 
and shame. 

" 'But/ said the little woman, 'I was always seeing happy 
families, men who were kind and considerate, and it was too 
much for me. I began to drink in order to forget. I was 
working beyond my strength, and the habit got the best of me. 
Sometimes for weeks every cent I earn goes for whisky, and 
when I come to myself I am as you see me now, too weak to 
work or to care what becomes of me. You ask me if I go to 
church. How can such a wreck as I go to church, or anywhere 
else with decent people V " 

The worker took the address, and called soon afterward. For 
two weeks nothing was heard from the woman. Then one 
Sunday afternoon she went to the deaconess home, asking to 
see the one who had taken an interest in her. She was broken- 
hearted and in a pitiable condition. For two weeks she had 
been drinking hard, and her nerves were entirely shattered. 
The deaconess physician gave her some medicine, she was per- 
suaded to eat a little, and then the kind-hearted woman knelt 
beside her and prayed to the One who has promised to bind up 
the broken heart and to heal the wounded spirit. That evening 
she went to Morgan Memorial, and when the invitation was 
given, she went forward for prayers. That very night after the 
service, she wrote to her son, who was in Philadelphia, telling 
him of her new-found hope, and asking him to come for her, 
that she desired to be with him and live a new life. Some years 
have gone since then, and throughout she has lived as one 
redeemed — a normal Christian life, loved by her children, and 
respected by those who know her. 



What will not man do when the craving for drink masters 
him? James Allen, born in Scotland, was such a victim to the 
alcoholic habit that one evening, when his little daughter was 
sick and his wife gave him twenty-five cents to go out and get a 
prescription filled, stating that this was all the money that she 



46 THE EEDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

had, he went to a saloon and spent it for drink. After his 
despicable act, he became so despondent that he felt he could 
not return home, and decided that he would drown himself. 
He went to the Broadway Bridge, fully determined to end it all. 
But the place was so crowded with people that he found it 
impossible to carry out his rash determination. Just as he 
was crossing, however, he heard some singing. It happened that 
it was an old familiar Scotch tune, and it awoke within him 
many memories of long ago. He wandered in the direction of 
the singing, and found himself in one of the out-of-door meetings 
conducted by Morgan Memorial workers. When the invitation 
was given for all who desire to lead a better life to come forward, 
he did so. 

That was thirteen years ago. After living several years 
around Boston, he went to New York, where he is now in a 
good position, with a happy home, interested in the church, 
and in every good thing. Writing recently to Morgan Memorial, 
he says : "I know you will all be glad to hear that I am still in 
the same path. My greatest wish is that your untiring efforts 
in making men and women lead good lives may be constantly 
successful. You made a pretty good job of me. The children 
are all growing up, and are now members of the church/' 



Even in his degradation Andrew Buxton revealed that he was 
a man of parts, and that he had seen days of prosperity. He 
went to Morgan Memorial asking for an opportunity to work 
for food. He said he had not eaten for three days. He was 
given work stenciling relief bags. This was on a Thursday, 
and he was invited to attend the service held that evening. 
During the service, when the opportunity was given, he raised 
his hand for prayers, and decided to lead a better life. 

His is the story of one born in a good home, starting out with 
good prospects in life, succeeding, in fact, and having a position 
of respectability and prominence in a community, who, becoming 
a victim of drink, loses all. He was engaged in the real estate 



SOME WHO HAVE PREVAILED 47 

business, and had built up a good clientele. The drink habit 
grew worse and worse. He finally got into debt so extensively 
that he was obliged to run away in order to escape imprisonment. 
He had been away from home three years when he came to 
Morgan Memorial, and in that time, leading his life of dissipa- 
tion, he had not written to his wife and children even once. 
He would work a little while and then spend the money drink- 
ing. He worked in shoe shops around Lynn, and never succeeded 
in getting the mastery of himself, or seemed to care, for that 
matter. He was simply a wreck. 

The workers at Morgan Memorial were surprised to learn that 
he had a son who was a Protestant Episcopalian minister sta- 
tioned in one of the Southern States. They doubted the story 
at first, but investigation showed that it was a fact. That the 
time had come when he desired to lead a better life was very 
certain, and the Morgan threw about him every possible influence 
for good that it could. He was given employment in the insti- 
tution for several months. After more than six months of 
sobriety, he again fell a victim to drink. The workers went 
after him, and succeeded in inducing him to make a new start. 
They wrote to his wife, and she answered that she would be 
glad to give him a new chance. To make the story short, he 
returned to his former home, faced his creditors, paid his debts 
gradually, lived a Christian life, and is to-day an honored citizen 
of the community. 



When the workers called in the home of the Randalls, they 
found a pitiful condition. Both the husband and wife were 
drunk, one of the children was sick, and poverty was evident 
everywhere. The mother had been attempting to conduct a 
lodging house and had made a flat failure of it. Morgan 
Memorial naturally became interested in the family, as these 
are just the cases that they seek. Every attempt, however, to 
reach the parents failed. They responded to nothing. Finally 
the workers turned their efforts to the children. They secured 



48 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

their attendance upon the various industrial classes. The girl 
was taught to keep house and to do things about the home of 
which the mother was entirely ignorant. She learned to sew, 
to cook, and to make beds properly. The boy was also in- 
structed in various ways, and in due course of time both of the 
children were graduated from the industrial classes. As a result 
of the instruction that was given the daughter, changes grad- 
ually took place in the home. The mother, however, continued 
to drink, and finally died. Meanwhile, the girl grew to young 
womanhood, was married, and is now living in a comfortable 
home in one of the suburbs of the city, her father and brother 
making their home with her. The influence of the Morgan has 
also been potent in the life of the father, who has given up 
his drink, while the boy, now a young man, enjoys a good 
position in a Boston bank. 



These are some of those who have been reached by the 
Morgan and are living witnesses of the permanency of the 
salvage work of the institution. And more, many more, running 
into the thousands, in fact, are the cases — men and women — 
who, having been touched by the gospel of Christ, have prevailed. 



CHAPTER VI 



The Children's Settlement 



When the prophet of old caught a vision of Jerusalem 
restored, he beheld a city so transformed that the boys and 
girls could play in perfect safety in the streets. Child life, 
well cared for, must be a part of the program of the Christian 
Church. In this Morgan Memorial reveals its farsightedness 
and its harmony with the best of Christian thought and of 
modern life, that it neglects not the child. As matter of fact, 
it lays major emphasis upon this phase of its work. It is not 
so spectacular, perhaps, as some other parts of the enterprise. 
It does not arrest the attention so commandingly. Yet who 
shall gainsay that here Morgan Memorial is doing more for 
the advancement of the Kingdom and the development of good 
citizenship than in any of its other departments — this, without 
in any way disparaging or discounting what is being done for 
the adults? For childhood and youth alone hold the key to 
the future. 

Go to Morgan Memorial any day in the seven and you will 
find it literally teeming with young life. Do you happen in 
on Sunday? Then you may visit the Children's Church, if 
you have a special invitation, and do not intend to be conde- 
scending. It is a real church. Children form the choir, they 
are the ushers, they take up the offering — in fact, they do 
everything except preach. The regular order of service is used 
as in the ordinary congregation, and at the proper time a 
sermon is delivered. And let this be understood, it is not a 
sermon consisting of "child talk," whatever that may be, of 
"talking down" to the children, but it is a discussion of a 
pertinent theme with text, orderly development, illustration, 

49 



50 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

application. In short, the children are in church, in all the 
meaning of that term. Then they have their Sunday school, 
and in the evening their service with illustrated talk, when so 
many attend that admission is by ticket. 

Let us glance into the institution, however, during the week. 
Not a part of young life but what finds here some ministry, 
some phase of education or social service that meets its needs. 
Indeed, the Morgan begins its work with the baby, for it has a 
nursery where some fifty little ones are daily mothered by loving 
women. These come from homes where misfortune has laid 
its heavy hand, and the mothers are forced to work to support 
the family. For a nominal sum the baby can be placed in the 
nursery, left there during the day in perfect safety, and taken 
home at night. What a sight, pathetic and yet cheering, that 
nursery presents! There are those little iron beds arranged in 
tiers, clean and inviting, with little ones in many of them, 
while on the floor and about the room many are at play, with 
smiling and tender womanhood looking after them. Who can 
estimate the effect of such a ministry ! 

Closely allied to the nursery is the kindergarten, where older 
children are received. The rich have their kindergartens, why 
not the poor likewise? Morgan Memorial can find but one 
answer to such a question as this. The children in this depart- 
ment attend from nine to twelve in the morning, except those 
whose parents are away from home during the day. These are 
allowed to remain throughout the afternoon, the school in this 
respect continuing the work of the nursery. 

Located in such a section of the city as this, the influence of 
a nursery and a kindergarten connected with an institution 
like Morgan Memorial is simply beyond calculation. Is it not 
the Roman Catholic Church that is quoted as saying, through 
one of her authorities, that if she can have a child for the first 
seven years of its life, she will risk any attempt which may 
later be made to divert its allegiance? Be that as it may, 
here are the appointments, complete and of the best, for the 
work of taking care of the children in their younger years. 



THE CHILDREN'S SETTLEMENT 51 

It means laying the foundation for good manners, inculcating 
good taste, helping in the healthy development of the body, 
giving religious instruction — in a word, it means much more 
than we are likely to think in any hasty examination of the 
institution. 

No part of the Morgan is more fascinatingly interesting than 
that which is devoted to the industrial training of the boys and 
girls. Here they are taught to do something useful, to become 
skilled workers. The world is constantly in need of the trained 
man or woman. In other parts of the plant you find the tragedy 
of the one who knows no trade, who has no skill, who never 
learned how to do anything in particular. Failure is written 
in every line of his features. If Morgan Memorial can help 
it, these children of the South End will go out into the world, 
each able to do something well. A list of the industrial activi- 
ties already established is proof of this. 

For the boys there are carpentry work, the making of articles 
of furniture for the home as well as simple ornaments, printing, 
shoe-making, and general repairing. Do you know, you who 
read these lines, that repairing things about the house has well- 
nigh become a lost art? There was a time when chair or table, 
crockery or other article that broke could be mended in the home. 
To-day we throw these away, entailing an economic loss that is 
by no means negligible. The boys at Morgan Memorial are 
given instruction in this, taught how to patch a shoe, glue 
together a broken plate, make a new leg for chair or table. 

The girls, on the other hand, are taught to be good house- 
keepers. Parenthetically, it might be remarked here, that thus 
many a mother is also taught better ways, healthier, neater, 
more economical. Here, as in other matters, it often happens 
that a little child leads. In that model tenement already referred 
to, in the three rooms typical of the homes of the neighborhood, 
the girls are instructed in sweeping, arranging the rooms, 
making the beds. And they are taught also how to care for the 
baby — a most useful instruction, as the older girls are often 
called upon to care for their younger brothers and sisters. 



52 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

But this is only part of the work for the benefit of the girls. 
They also learn to cook, to do millinery work, to mend. Here 
is the foundation for good housekeeping, and here is likewise 
instruction in arts that may be turned to good account in the 
workaday world. And to these, sloyd, basketry, carpentry 
must also be added — a program broad enough to appeal to all 
classes of youth. 

Along with these, however, are the schools of music, art, and 
expression, where under most favorable conditions the best of 
instruction is given at a cost within the reach of all. None but 
tried instructors are engaged for this work, and the very latest 
methods in vogue in the best conservatories and studios em- 
ployed. Can any one who has not lived under the limited 
circumstances incidental to such a neighborhood as the South 
End imagine what it means to have such advantages brought 
within the reach of the poor? Any day one may see these chil- 
dren, black and white, Jew and Gentile, native and foreign born, 
mingling together in this settlement. They are being taught 
some of those most valuable lessons of life itself, laying the foun- 
dations, many of them, upon which in after years they will 
build career and character. 

In another part of the building is a room where many of the 
children may be seen busily engaged studying, not the lessons 
given them at the Morgan, but those of the public schools. This 
is the home study room, where, free from the annoyances of 
the ordinary tenement, they may prepare their lessons. If the 
visitor will watch for a few moments, he will see the attendants 
as they assist now this one and now that one. The knotty 
problems are unraveled, the difficult places made easy. Thus the 
children of the poor are provided tutors in their educational 
tasks. One wonders if there is really anything that can be 
thought of that the Morgan has not provided for the little ones 
of this section. If there is, then let it be mentioned, and 
assuredly, if it is worth while, it will be incorporated in the 
program of activities. 

What Was it they were wont to sing about Jack's relation to 




DAY NURSERY DORMITORY 
KINDERGARTEN EXERCISES IN GYMNASIUM 



THE CHILDREN'S SETTLEMENT 53 

his work? Yes, all work and no play, they asserted, would 
make him a dull boy — and this is so, whether Jack happens to 
be male or female. No one knows this better than those who 
are in charge of Morgan Memorial. The gymnasium, the club 
rooms, the game room all testify to the fact that provision has 
been made to obviate any risk of dullness. It is a lively 
group that one may find in any of these quarters whenever he 
happens to stroll in. Blessed is the generation that has dis- 
covered the play element in the nature of youth. It is all well 
enough for the church to cry aloud against the cheap moving 
picture show and denounce the low places of amusement. Veri- 
table highways to perdititon are these! But shall we stop at 
mere denunciation? The trouble has often been that we have 
been strong in our negatives but weak in our positives. We 
have torn down, but have had no constructive program to offer to 
take the place of that which has been demolished. Let this be 
noted, that a policy of repression only is doomed to failure. 
Youth must have its opportunity for expression; it must live 
its own life. 

Every friend of humanity cannot but rejoice over the modern 
attitude toward the child. We are saying that he must be 
taken from mine and factory, and removed from field and street ; 
his health must be conserved. Society has need of it for the 
after years. But more, he must be given the opportunity to play, 
to supply that demand in his nature imbedded there from birth. 
Has not the church a duty here? It must speak, and it does, 
against the crime that would dwarf the child in labor. It must 
help provide likewise for his recreational life. Morgan Memorial 
has caught the vision. See them at play in the handball court, 
watch them in the gymnasium, and note the liveliness that pre- 
vails in the game room. Everything is arranged so that both the 
boys and the girls may be given the instruction that is needed 
in classes and trained physically, the same thoroughness mark- 
ing this that is found in the other departments of the institution. 

During the summer months a vacation school is in operation 
in the settlement. A large group of the children of the neigh- 



54 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

borliood is also carefully selected to spend the summer at South 
Athol. This phase of the work we shall consider later. But, 
aside from these who are favored with the outing, there are 
some four hundred to five hundred children who are gathered 
in what is known as a vacation school. This in itself is a most 
interesting phase of the work. A large corps of trained assist- 
ants is secured for this purpose, the regular workers being 
supplemented by college students who volunteer for the summer, 
together with skilled settlement workers who use their best 
ingenuity and the latest methods to make a school at once attrac- 
tive and profitable as to studies, and sufficiently diverting as to 
recreation to hold the children during the warm weather. The 
record of the enrollment, as given above, is sufficient proof of 
its success. 

A day in the school will give an idea of the scope and nature 
of the work. First, there is an opening exercise with Bible story 
and patriotic hymn, and then the classes disperse, each to devote 
itself to its own special task. Here, for instance, you will find 
a group engaged in sewing, there they are cane-seating, yonder 
clay-modeling, here hammock-making, or carpentering, or learn- 
ing the duties of home-making in the model suite, or engaged 
in sloyd. In a word, the industrial school of the winter months 
is adjusted to the needs of the summer. Thus the morning 
hours are spent. 

In the afternoon there is considerable variety of program. 
Sometimes there will be a trip to a beach or to a place of 
patriotic interest, or out into the country. The picnic idea, 
life in the open, is the feature of this part of the day. But 
while it is frankly recreational, it is so arranged and so planned 
in its details by those in charge that lessons in patriotism, in 
nature study, and in other subjects are given. The success of 
this feature of the institution has been most marked. It comes 
into the life of the neighborhood at a time when the child is a 
problem alike to himself and to his parents. Dangerous indeed 
are these summer months when the little ones are allowed to 
run about without let or hindrance, aimlessly, and come into 



THE CHILDREN'S SETTLEMENT 55 

contact with all manner of evil and subtle temptations. The 
summer school is a veritable Godsend to the South End. Morgan 
Memorial has nothing more far-reaching in its redemptive work 
than this. For it is redemption by prevention. Is not the 
proverbial ounce here worth the pound of cure that would be 
needed later on? 

This is the children's work of the Morgan Memorial, well 
planned and conscientiously carried out. The institution has 
indeed heard the words of the Master when he said, "Suffer 
little children to come unto me, and forbid them not." 



CHAPTER YII 



The Industrial Plant 



It is not too much to say, as has already been indicated, that 
Morgan Memorial is the last word in scientific charity. It 
helps the man who would help himself. In every way possible 
it would give the unfortunates of society a chance. It is this 
feature of the work, it must be frankly admitted, that appeals 
to the clear-thinking business man as he examines the institu- 
tion at close range. He finds here not a mere charity, engaged 
in the degrading business of pauperizing those who come to it 
for help, but rather a corps of trained men and women who 
know human nature and busy themselves in extending a helping 
hand to the derelict and putting him in a way once more to make 
an honest living. This must be said at the very outset in the 
consideration of this phase of the work, that the professional 
tramp, the man who shuns labor from inborn principles, has as 
little chance of successfully imposing on Morgan Memorial as 
the proverbial camel has of getting through the needle's eye. He 
finds this an unfavorable place to practise his wiles. And it 
might be added, he shuns it religiously. 

The industrial features of Morgan Memorial give it a most 
unique place among the religious institutions of the country 
working among the unfortunates, while, on the other hand, the 
religious aspects of this industrial work give it an equally 
unique place among the social centers that magnify the indus- 
trial. We have here a blending of the two in a way that is 
truly striking and characteristic. It might aptly be termed 
the "Morgan plan/' 

We have been introduced to the motley throng that crowds 
into the chapel early in the morning. Many of these have come 

56 



THE INDUSTBIAL PLANT 57 

from the most unlikely places. There was converted at one of the 
services of the institution some time ago a man who had tasted 
all the bitterness of life in the underworld of a great city. He 
had felt the pangs of hunger, and the biting frost of winter in 
unsheltered places; he had known the fear of the officer of the 
law as he tried to find shelter and by him had been driven out 
into the cold. Life in its misery, brought on by drink and sin, 
was his until that night in the mission hall he turned toward the 
light and a new day dawned. 

This man, during the winter months, visits his old haunts, 
going there in the middle of the night to invite the broken 
and the wrecked to the Morgan. Do they want something to 
eat and a cup of coffee? Do they wish a chance to work and 
earn some honest money ? Would they meet some real friends ? 
What answer is possible for men under such circumstances? 
And many of them give just the answer one would expect. 
They go to Morgan Memorial. And with these sinful ones are 
others, steady men thrown out of work, fathers of families who 
have lost their employ, men temporarily laid aside and feeling 
the pinch of poverty, and in need of a little assistance to tide 
them over. This is the crowd that we saw gathered there in 
the opening chapter. They have come for relief, and most of 
them for work. 

The visitor casually dropping in at such a time will find him- 
self confronted with a far different order of things from what 
he had expected. Are the men asked first about the work for 
which they are seeking? Is their physical condition first of all 
considered? Not at all. The first thing that is done is to 
draw the attention of these men, after they have been given 
something to eat, to the spiritual realities of life. Does not 
every good and perfect gift come from him whom we worship as 
Father, and should we not first of all recognize him? This is 
the place also to draw attention to the fact that all departments 
of the industrial plant, every part of the institution opens 
each day with a service of prayer. God is recognized in all 
things. Without cant or rant, but as the normal and spiritual 



58 THE EEDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

thing, as virile men and true women, guidance is asked of Him 
who has promised wisdom and strength to all who seek it in 
faith at his hands. 

When we examine the industrial phase of the institution with 
care, we are impressed with its thoroughness, its businesslike 
methods, its attention to the last details. Many a person who 
has come to the place prejudiced against it through some un- 
founded report, thinking of it as lacking in regard for the 
principles of modern charity, has marveled as he has gone from 
room to room and studied the work. Nothing is left to be 
desired. An employment bureau, open from nine to ten each 
morning, takes the men in hand, files application records, and 
gives each a card to one of the heads of departments where he 
may be employed. 

Two or three things may be said at this point concerning the 
bureau and its relation to the men and the institution. In the 
first place, the bureau is not intended to be an ordinary em- 
ployment agency. The late hour of opening and the short time 
it is kept in operation each day indicate that. The industrial 
plant of Morgan Memorial is not in competition with the busi- 
ness world. It is a method of relief for men who can find no 
work elsewhere, and for those who are down and out, to whom 
ordinary employers will not even listen. In the very nature of 
the case, the questioning of the men is somewhat different from 
that of the employment agency which deals with normal con- 
ditions. It is the man who has failed, and often, very often, 
through his own fault and indulgence — it is that man, providing 
he has sufficient manhood to ask for a chance to work, whom 
the Morgan would help. 

There is hope for a man when he asks for an opportunity to 
earn his daily bread. It is the man who in his laziness condemns 
society for not providing for his wants who is dangerous. The 
other may be sinful, he may have been positively wicked; but if 
he arises and says, "Give me work," he has within him the 
making of a man once more. And Morgan Memorial recog- 
nizes that. With his card in hand, that man goes from chapel 




SHOE REPAIRING DEPARTMENT 
RUG WEAVING 



THE INDUSTRIAL PLANT 59 

service and employment bureau to the foreman of some part 
of the industrial plant, and there is given work. It should be 
stated here that it is not the purpose of the institution to em- 
ploy any person for any length of time. The plant is for tem- 
porary relief, to help one over a hard place, to put a person on 
his feet, to give him a new start in life. Some need but one 
day's work; others would be given two or three; still others a 
little longer; while some are sent to South Athol to remain on 
the farm and in the extension rug-making factory, far from the 
temptations of city life, for several weeks and even months, 
until they have attained to a complete mastery of themselves. 
But neither the rate of wages — about fifteen cents an hour — 
nor the work itself is designed to hold the men permanently. 
Places will often be found outside for men, as the employment 
bureau is in touch with employers of labor throughout the city; 
but the idea is constantly kept in mind that Morgan Memorial 
in its industrial plant is part of a great plan of human salvage. 
The thousands of dollars that it gives in wages each year to the 
men and women that it employs are to be reckoned in this 
fashion. It is relief by making it possible for these to help 
themselves, thus saving self respect and avoiding pauperiza- 
tion. 

The variety of work carried on at the Morgan will surprise 
any person who will take the trouble to visit the institution. 
"I never thought you had anything so extensive as this," is the 
expression that drops from the lips of person after person as he 
goes from floor to floor of the six-story building. There are, of 
course, the ordinary odd tasks that one would find about an 
institution of this kind — sweeping and washing floors, tending 
furnaces, putting things in order about the rooms, helping as 
"handy men" generally. But aside from these, there are the 
regular departments of the industry. And thereby hangs a most 
interesting tale. 

The foundation of Morgan Memorial's industrial work is 
a common canvas bag about the size of the ordinary potato bag. 
This it is that makes that part of the institution possible. 



60 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

Odd, is it not ? But read. On these bags you will find printed 
these words : 

Morgan Memorial 

Relief Bag 

Industrial Work 

435 

The story is all there. No less than 41,000 of these bags have 
been distributed about Greater Boston. The number printed 
on each is the index by which those in charge can tell to whom 
each one belongs. Into these bags the people are asked to collect 
their cast-off things — clothing, shoes, rubbers, gloves, books, 
papers — everything and anything. Morgan Memorial takes any- 
thing that any one will give away. Once a month the motor 
truck of the institution comes around, collects the bags, takes 
also broken-down beds, tables, chairs, or anything else, and 
brings it all to the industrial plant. And in this you have the 
raw material that keeps the institution in operation. It is 
really marvelous when you come to think of it ! 

With these facts in mind one can readily see the variety 
the Morgan Memorial has to offer the poor unfortunates who 
come seeking work. Have I written as if only men were in this 
number? As a matter of fact, many a poor woman finds her 
way to the employment office. Her husband has died, or he has 
been sent to jail for drunkenness or some crime, or perhaps he 
has left her, and there are children to be clothed and fed, the 
rent to be paid, and help must be found immediately. The 
heart-breaking tales that one must hear in such a place! I 
have wondered more than once how these workers, tender and 
sympathetic, can endure it. Day in and day out, not the same 
story, but the same human misery, variations on misfortune and 
hunger, disease, sin and wickedness; yet they keep optimistic 
amid it all. They have found the secret of genuine cheerful- 
ness — an asset of no mean value if one is to work where so 
much of sorrow is to be found. 

The institution, I was about to say, employs both sexes in 
its many departments. To superintend such a variety of work 



THE INDUSTRIAL PLANT 61 

demands skill of no mean order. The first thing that is done 
after the material has been collected is to disinfect everything 
thoroughly. It matters not whether it comes from the home 
of the rich or of the poor, everything goes into the "death 
house." Even the rich have diseases at times, and germs from 
the Back Bay and Brookline are germs none the less, and as 
deadly as if they came from — well, never mind where, any- 
where will do. Clothing, shoes, furniture, paper, crockery — 
everything goes into the disinfecting room before any one is 
allowed to touch it at all. This is a double precaution: first, 
it protects the workers, and then it protects those who purchase 
the finished product of the institution. 

That last statement doubtless raises an interrogation mark 
in the mind of some. The finished product? What is meant 
by that ? If you will step into the store on the ground floor of 
the Morgan on Shawmut Avenue, you will find the answer to 
the question. Here one may secure anything he desires in the 
way of furniture and wearing apparel. Millinery, shoes, collars, 
ties, dresses, suits of clothes, overcoats, bed linen, stoves, chairs, 
tables, books — think of anything you may need, and it will be 
surprising if it cannot be found in that store. This is the 
finished product of the institution, materially speaking. The 
raw material we found in the bags. In between are the indus- 
tries. The broken-down, worn-out, torn, out-of-date, dilapidated, 
wrecked stuff that was thrown away and then collected in the 
motor trucks has gone through a process of repair, remaking, 
reassembling, rearranging, until a new article, to all intents 
and purposes, has been evolved. And in the doing of this hun- 
dreds of persons have been given employment. 

One who visits this part of the Morgan will be genuinely 
surprised, and pleased also, as he sees this modern development 
in relief work. It is rich tonic. In one room are to be seen 
the carpenters at work. We must remember that all of these 
men, aside from the foreman, have been picked up from the 
street, or have come in, broken in spirit, or have been reached 
through the revival services. They are human derelicts for the 



62 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

most part, with here and there one who has met what is ordi- 
narily termed "hard luck." They take a broken chair, for 
instance, and make a new leg for it. It is then sandpapered, 
touched up, given a new rung, or anything else that is needed, 
painted, and lo and behold! you have a new chair. Tables, 
bureaus, dressers, beds, in fact, anything in the line of furniture 
is treated in the same manner. Does it require much imagina- 
tion to see the possibilities of this department in turning out 
the products of the store and giving honest, remunerative em- 
ployment to the unfortunate? 

In another room they are at work on shoes. You never saw 
repairing as it is done in this shop. The old leather is saved 
from the shoes that are beyond repair, and with this others are 
put into wearing condition. They rearrange and remake, use 
old and new leather, until a product is turned out in which 
the men take pride, while the institution may sell it at a 
reasonable price in its store. In still another room they are 
repairing clothing, men's suits and coats, and women's clothes 
also, while in another they are at work on hats. Style? That 
millinery display is sufficient to disturb the vanity of almost 
any feminine heart. Others are sorting papers, while others 
still are dividing into various grades the rags that have been 
collected. 

By the way, I was surprised at the income that is derived 
from old papers and magazines. I knew that something would 
be secured from this source, but the extent of it is worthy of 
note. One of the chief features of this part of the work is the 
attention that is given to magazines. There are always a few 
numbers among these periodicals that for one reason or another 
have become rare. Morgan Memorial has a list of these, and 
when the magazines come in, a careful search is made for 
these particular numbers. Sometimes a premium of consider- 
able size is paid, and always there is a good revenue. Only a 
sidelight is this on the industrial work, but it is full of interest 
as indicating the scope of the enterprise and the attention to 
minute details. 



THE INDUSTRIAL PLANT 63 

But the most extensive phase of the industrial plant is rug- 
making. The Morgan Memorial rugs have acquired a name 
for themselves, both for the honesty of the work which is put 
into them, and for their artistic beauty. I saw a silk rug that 
was in the process of making that would be an ornament to 
any home. These rugs are of several kinds. Some are made 
from old carpets — a kind that has now become quite extensively 
used. Others are woven from old rags, such as were made at 
one time upon the looms of the New England farm homes. 
Then there is an artistic arrangement of material, sometimes 
woolen, or again silk, to bring out certain designs. In fact, 
practically anything in the line of domestic rugs is made in this 
plant. It should be added that while much of the work is done 
in Boston, it is from South Athol that most of the output 
comes. The salesrooms in Boston are worthy of a visit by all 
who may desire these articles for the home. While most of the 
work is done on orders, the institution also carries on hand con- 
stantly a well-selected stock. 

It is in these departments, divided and subdivided to meet 
the requirements of the work, and in the printing office, the 
store, and other parts of the building, that these broken-down 
men and women and unfortunates of society who are battling 
with the world are given a chance. One can hardly conceive 
of the far-reaching effects that such an opportunity may have. 
Some will become skillful if they are kept for a while; others 
will be tided over a hard spot ; all will be given courage and help 
in asserting their self-respect. For when a man works for his 
bread, he can hold his head erect. This industry may be charity 
because it is conceived in a spirit of helpfulness, and not in 
that of mere money-making, but it is a charity that has about 
it no tinge of pauperism. 

If we step into the store, we will find it to be a source of 
real blessing to the neighborhood, as are also the branch stores 
of the Morgan in South Boston, East Cambridge, Eoxbury 
Crossing, and Charlestown. The product of the industry is 
sold for what it is worth. How much that means to the poor 



64 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

in these times of high prices! A fair price — but it is a price. 
And here again self-respect is saved, and pauperism is elimin- 
ated. It would be almost impossible to exaggerate the import- 
ance of such an institution. One day — let me tell this incident 
in illustration of what I am writing — a fine-looking man walked 
in and asked the privilege of a confidential talk. He was a 
floorwalker in a large department store of the city. He had 
had a hard time — sickness, reverses, trouble — and had been 
unable to buy the clothes that he needed. Finally they had told 
him at the store that he must either get a new suit of clothes 
or leave ; but he could not afford to buy one. This was the tale 
that he told. When he went out of the Morgan he had a new 
suit, and he had made arrangements to pay for it gradually. 
The Morgan store had come to his rescue by having in stock 
what he needed at a price within his reach. But this is only 
one incident out of scores and scores that might be related. If 
the pragmatic test be applied to this phase of the institution, 
then it is certainly a success, for it works. And a success it is ! 
This is the seal that must be placed on this unique phase of 
work at Morgan Memorial. 



CHAPTEE VIII 

The Institution and the Community 

It is one of the first laws of social service that the institutional 
church should know its community. In no other way is it pos- 
sible for the organization to minister adequately or intelligently 
to the needs of the surrounding population. This, then, can be 
said concerning Morgan Memorial, that it conforms to this 
fundamental law of its class — for it knows. Every nook and 
corner of the South End has been visited time and again by the 
workers connected with the institution. Every family has re- 
ceived the attention of these kind-hearted men and women. 
With painstaking care they have accumulated facts concerning 
the history and habits of their constituency, the locality, the 
conditions of property, the places of amusement and of business, 
the saloons and dance halls. In fact, they have gathered all 
manner of data with scientific accuracy upon which to base the 
activities that characterize the institution. The record of their 
investigations forms one of the most interesting exhibits to be 
seen at the Morgan — interesting in the information that it con- 
tains and in the manner of its presentation. 

Imagine a card catalogue composed of cards of many colors, 
reaching into the thousands. It is a strange sight, for there is 
no blending of the colors, no arrangement as to the artistic. 
You see, these are representative of the different nationalities 
of the neighborhood, twenty in all. What shades and shadings ! 
White stands for American, and yellow for Hebrew, and pink 
for Italian, green for Syrian, and thus through the list. The 
workers, as has already been said, call this their rainbow of 
promise, and such it has already proved to be in many ways. 
The information listed on these cards is most thoroughly gath- 
ered. The range of it may be seen from the following copy of 
the blank. 

65 



T 


3 


4 




5 


6 1 7 




8 


9 1 10 


1 11 I 12 1 No. 


NAME 


DATE 


ORGANIZATIONS 


ADDRESS 






OCCUPATION 






MARRIED OR SINGLE 






husband's or wife's FIRST NAME 






CHILDREN 


AGE 


SCHOOL OR WORK 


CHURCH CONNECTION 


DEFECTS 










































FAMILY INCOME 


WAGES 


RENT 


INS. PREM. 


NECESS'Y EXPENSES 


WHERE LAST EMPLOYED 


DEFECTS 


REFERENCES 









APPLIED FOR 



CUL'RCH CONNECTION 



On the back of this card there is another record for the 
relation of the individual to Morgan Memorial. The story there 
written is that of the relief extended in the form of work. It 
tells the kind of work that has been done, the quality of the 
service, the wages that have been paid, and the manner in which 
this pay has been given, whether in money or in goods. Such 
records as these are indicative of the thoroughness of the work 
done by the institution. But this is only one of the many that 
are kept. However, these are basic, of course, to all others, 
as they contain in brief the history of every family or of every 
individual of the neighborhood. Upon these facts intelligent 
action may certainly be based. 

It will be worth our while to consider a little in detail some 
of the methods employed by the institution in its social service. 



THE INSTITUTION AND THE COMMUNITY 67 

The great question that always arises in the mind of people as 
they learn of Morgan Memorial, is, How do they do it? To 
the uninitiated it would appear that such a work is beset with 
pitfalls. It is so easy to be imposed upon. There are so many 
unprincipled ones about who rejoice in nothing quite so much 
as in taking advantage of the unsuspecting. Of course, it must 
not be claimed for those in charge that they are infallible. 
Unworthy persons, without doubt, succeed in securing assist- 
ance in one form or another. But this must be said, that the 
number of such is reduced to the minimum. And that, without 
making charity mechanical or forgetting that even derelicts are 
human. When an investigation of the charitable institutions 
of the city was made some time ago by a reporter of one of the 
Boston dailies, who went about incognito in the character of a 
down-and-out, Morgan Memorial received the very highest praise. 
Many were scathingly dealt with for their inefficiency or their 
inhumanity as the newspaper man saw it; Morgan Memorial 
received nothing but words of commendation. Proof positive 
is this that it is possible to manage an institution of this kind 
with heart and head at one and the same time. One need not be 
inhuman to be efficient in charity, or inefficient to be human. 

The institution cooperates with the Associated Charities 
of the city. It works in harmony with this admirable organiza- 
tion, although at times, in the nature of the case, because of 
the prominence of the religious element at the Morgan, some- 
what independently. It never forgets that its task is with folks 
and not "cases," and yet folks that must be cared for method- 
ically and according to well-defined and well-thought-out prin- 
ciples. 

In another chapter the store is described in some detail. It 
is stated there that a fair price is fixed on every article after 
it has been made over in the industries. That this is a blessing 
to many families can readily be seen. But suppose a person is 
unable to pay even a fair price, and he needs a certain article — 
in fact, must have it. What then ? The attendant circumstances 
are carefully investigated. When these are such as to warrant 



68 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

a reduction on even the low price already asked, that reduction 
is given, and gladly. For this is one of the phases of work of 
the institution. It may be that the friendly visitor, as she has 
gone among the tenements, has found dire need. Belief is 
needed, imperatively and immediately. She gives a card to the 
husband or mother, or to some other responsible member of the 
family, to be presented to the institution. This card reads as 
follows : 



APPLICATION FOR LOWER PRICES 



The undersigned is unable to pay the prices asked for goods in 
the Morgan Memorial Stores, and hereby applies for a discount 
card. 

Name— 

Address 

References — — 



Visitc 



This means that careful consideration will be given the applica- 
tion by some one in authority at the Morgan. If the request is 
granted, then another card is given the person, which is to be 
presented at the store. This one reads: 



No 
THIS ENTITLES the bearer, 

M 


Strpp.t,, No. 


to Discount Rate 


at thfi Morgan Memorial Stores. 





In the blank following "Discount Kate," cabalistic figures are 
entered by the investigator which indicate the amount that is to 




SLOYD CLASS 
CLASS IN COOKING 



THE INSTITUTION AND THE COMMUNITY 69 

be taken from the ordinary selling price. This varies with the 
need of the individual. In some cases it is slight. Then again 
it may be almost the whole of the selling price. What is kept 
in mind is the idea of service, intelligently bestowed, according 
to the need, that pauperization may be eliminated and self- 
respect maintained. Could any better system for this purpose 
be devised? 

Sometimes the application for help will come in a still different 
way. It is found that some one is in need of clothing, for 
instance, but he has no means of purchasing it. He is out of 
work. What he has then is time. Such a one is sent to the 
institution with a card, which becomes at once an application 
for work and for the particular article that he desires. Here 
is the way this is worded : 

Present this card before selecting the article, or it will be refused you 

Work Card for Clothing 

THE MORGAN MEMORIAL RELIEF WORK 



Boston, _19 Dept.. 

Mr._ 



Street, No. 



Wishes to work for. 



Have you such articles in stock. 



Price- Value in time_ 

Commenced work 



Signed by- 



While we are considering this phase of the Morgan's activi- 
ties, attention might be called to the method used in helping 
unfortunates known first of all to others aside from those at the 



70 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

institution. Suppose some one in straitened circumstances, out 
of work, comes to the attention of some minister, or layman, of 
Greater Boston. Is there any way of helping such a one? 
Send him to Morgan Memorial, some one answers. Of course. 
But all such could not be accommodated. Moreover, some way 
must be found of identifying the person for the Morgan officials 
as one worthy of consideration. This has been provided for 
through a card to be signed by the person who knows the appli- 
cant and is sending him to the industrial plant. It reads as 
follows : 

The Morgan Memorial Co-operative 
Industries and Stores, Inc. 

Cor. Shawmut Aye. and Corning St., Boston 

Please give bearer, M : 

of Street City 

hours work, and pay for the same in 

, and charge to my account. 



Name. 



Address. 



REGULATIONS: 

No work is given to any person under the influence of liquor. 

All persons are investigated before relief is given, unless otherwise requested by the 
sender. 

When possible, work is paid for by the piece: otherwise at our uniform price per hour. 

After the person has worked, the card is indorsed by both 
Morgan Memorial and the individual himself, that the record 
may be presented to the sponsor in case this should need to 
be done. 

Very often there are employers of labor who leave requests 
with the Morgan for men or women. Persons sent to these are 
given a memorandum which reads as follows: 



THE INSTITUTION AND THE COMMUNITY 71 
THE MORGAN MEMORIAL EMPLOYMENT OFFICE 

89 Shawmut Avenue, Boston, Mass. 

Telephone, Oxford 5320 

To M 



This will introduce. 



who applies for the position at your disposal. 
Signed, 



[see other side] 

On the other side of the card is a blank which is to be filled by 
the employer stating whether or not the person has done his 
work satisfactorily. In good, comfortable places, some of them 
positions of responsibility in Greater Boston and elsewhere, 
there are not a few persons who were given their start in just 
this way. Most of them reclaimed from lives of sin, all of 
them having met misfortune, they found in this institution a 
friend in the time of need. And they in turn have not proved 
false to the confidence reposed in them. 

Based on these records and on many others that might be 
adduced, covering every phase of work in the institution, it 
must be said that Morgan Memorial carries on its social service 
in a most systematic and scientific manner. If we could follow 
the friendly visitor as she goes among the tenements and alleys 
of the district, we would be impressed with the thoroughness of 
the work. Of course, there are the regular members of the 
Morgan Memorial Church who must be visited. They are as 
careful and as insistent on parish calls in the South End as 
they are in any other part of the city. But, aside from that, 
what a task devolves on the visitor in going about the neighbor- 
hood, in the spirit of One of old, doing good! The children 
who attend church and Sunday school, and those who are mem- 



72 THE BEDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

bers of the various clubs and take advantage of the social and 
industrial features of the place, must be seen in their homes. 
And often, very often indeed, the child has been the key that 
has unlocked the heart of father or mother and led to wonderful 
spiritual transformations. 

What does not the visitor find? Sickness, poverty, sin; 
husband and father drunk, abuse of the family, rags and starva- 
tion; vice, women given over to lives of shame, degradation to 
its lowest depths! This, all this, yes, and much more, for the 
South End has it all. Yet how it has been changed by the 
influence of the Morgan and the other institutions. It is on 
these tours of inspection that the visitor finds opportunity to 
serve in the Master's name. Is there sickness? Certainly she 
can be of help. She is trained as a nurse, or she knows how to 
reach one that is, and the needed help will be given. Is there 
poverty — there often is — the whole institution is back of her to 
come to the assistance of the unfortunate. Is there sin? Yes, 
it is there, stalking in all of its loathsomeness. She has a 
message, and she can take the sinful to that building where the 
cross is lifted by day and by night. The results of the friendly 
visitation are carefully tabulated and preserved for future refer- 
ence. They are in many respects the working basis of the 
institution. 

Efficiency is in all departments of the Morgan the watchword 
that guides the responsible heads. Once a week, for instance, 
in order to promote this thoroughness and intelligence, the 
various workers meet together with the superintendent to talk 
over plans and to discuss the details of their task. More, they 
consider their parish. Has the visitor, for instance, found some 
family in a particularly distressing condition, then they are 
taken up and plans devised to assist them. The case may be 
hard; but there is nothing hopeless here. The Morgan must 
solve the problem if there is any way in which it can be done. 
Has some mother been deserted by a faithless husband, some 
father been thrown out of work, some son committed a crime, 
some daughter stepped into the ways of sin? These things 



THE INSTITUTION AND THE COMMUNITY 73 

occur in the South End, and Morgan Memorial has a ministry 
to perform under just such circumstances. Has some iniquitous 
condition developed in the neighborhood? Suspicion may have 
been directed toward some building. Perhaps gambling is 
going on there, or a place of evil resort is being developed. 
Then something must be done and that quickly and firmly. 
Morgan Memorial is guardian of the morals of its neighborhood. 
And those who know the neighborhood as it was some years 
ago — say twenty — and can compare it with what it is to-day, 
know that the Morgan has been faithful to its stewardship in 
this respect. 

It is, in a word, in these conferences that plans are formulated 
and crystallized for the vast enterprise. The stranger attending 
one of them would be impressed by both the scope of the work 
and the manner in which it is managed. The principles of 
scientific charity, as has already been indicated, and thorough- 
going modern social service control throughout. It is by no 
means out of place to append in this connection the unqualified 
indorsement, from this scientific standpoint, given the institu- 
tion after complete and thorough examination by several well- 
known sociologists. 

Department of Economics, 

Boston University. 
Dear Mr. Helms: 

It occurs to me that you might be glad to have a brief written 
statement concerning my visit to Morgan Memorial the other day. 

As I told you at the close of my inspection, I was most favorably 
impressed with your work. Without entering into details, I may 
say that in general I regard your work, including the cooperative 
stores as well as the industries, as economically sound and socially 
beneficent. It deserves to be extended in every possible way, both 
in this city and in other cities. 

As for your own personal leadership, I have always had the 
greatest regard for your good sense, devotion and enthusiasm. You 
have my continued best wishes, and if I can do anything later to 
help you, when my time is not so full, please command me. 

Cordially yours, 

F. Spencer Baldwin. 



74 THE [REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

Chair of Sociology, 

Boston University School of Theology. 
Rev. E. J. Helms, Boston, Mass. 

My Dear Friend: For several years I have been acquainted in a 
limited way with Morgan Memorial. Last week I decided to again 
visit your work, and go carefully into the details and fundamental 
principles. After a thorough examination I am more impressed than 
ever with the excellent work you are doing. The personnel of your 
helpers, and the wise application of the principles of scientific 
charity to these self-respecting persons asking for work to relieve 
their temporary necessities pleased me beyond anything I have seen 
elsewhere. 

Along with this industrial opportunity, you are helping to solve 
the difficult problem of how to link up what are regarded as the 
more spiritual aspects of church work with the actual needs of 
those more unfortunate members of society who through lack of 
employment seek a chance to work in order to regain self-mastery 
as well as the respect of their fellows. Your work deserves the 
confidence and cooperation of all those who wish to lend a hand 
to relieve the needy. 

With sincere wishes for your continued success in your noble 
work, I remain, 

Very faithfully yours, 

John Marshall Barker. 



Department of Economics and Social Science, 

Wesleyan University. 
Dear Mr. Helms: 

In fairness to you, I ought to tell you how much pleased I was 
the other day on my visit to the Morgan Memorial. I took advantage 
of your permission to scrutinize and question as closely as I wished; 
and at the close of the forenoon, I had a clear sense of the impor- 
tance and value of your work. I admire the economic and sociological 
wisdom with which it has been planned, as I admire the skill and 
practical good sense with which it is carried on and the genuine 
charity in which it is conceived and with which it is inspired. I do 
not recall a half-day which has left a deeper impression on me. I 
have often thought of how much your institution means to the lives 
of many unfortunate persons and what a catastrophe it would be 
if you and your associates should be lifted right out of the city. 

With sincerest wishes for the continued prosperity of your noble 
work, I remain, Yours truly, 

Willakd C. Fisher. 



THE INSTITUTION AND THE COMMUNITY 75 

Dear Mr. Helms: 

I want to express to you the pleasure which it gave me to visit 
your summer work at South Athol. I am sure that you are laying 
there the foundation of a growing work. 

The spirit of consecrated effort to reach the hearts of the boys 
and girls with all that makes for the best manhood and womanhood 
will bring manifold results in future years. 

Mrs. Leila Martin, 
Gads Hill Settlement, Chicago, 111. 

In view of all this, one is well within the facts when he 
asserts, as has already been done several times in these pages, 
that Morgan Memorial is absolutely sound social service. It 
serves its community efficiently and intelligently, sympatheti- 
cally, and withal in the spirit of the Nazarene. 



CHAPTER IX 

Among the Foreign-Born 

The student of racial types will find that to interest him in 
any service held at Morgan Memorial. No less than twenty 
nationalities are represented in some considerable number in 
the section of Boston known as the South End, the total of these 
predominating so largely, as we have seen, that ninety-seven per 
cent of the district is registered as of foreign extraction. Prob- 
ably no other place in the United States presents the problem 
of the foreigner, as it is called, in such intensity and complexity. 
The remarkable thing about it is that Morgan Memorial is 
meeting the situation with eminent success. They are not 
institution. They will tell you, in fact, that in these new Amer- 
icans in the making are some of the best strains of blood to be 
found anywhere. The problem is to keep them from the influ- 
afraid of the Old World transplanted into the New at that 
ence of degenerate Americanism as found in the saloon, the 
gambling den and the brothel, and in dishonest business and 
politics. This new American must be captured for the highest 
and best ideals of our national life. 

While it is true that the immigrant problem is of national 
proportions, practically all sections of the country having their 
non-English-speaking races, it is equally true that New England 
faces the situation in a peculiarly intensified form. No less 
than fifty-nine per cent of the total population of New Eng- 
land, according to the latest census, is of foreign extraction — 
that is, foreign-born, or the children of foreign or of mixed 
parentage. This means that out of a total population of 
6,552,681 there were 3,867,095 who were of foreign extraction. 
Distributing this by States, we find that Rhode Island leads 

76 



AMONG THE FOREIGN-BOEN 77 

with 68 per cent of its population of foreign extraction, fol- 
lowed by Massachusetts with 66 per cent, Connecticut 63.1, 
New Hampshire 46.3, Vermont 35, and Maine 33. Such figures 
as these indicate the nature of the situation confronted by New 
England. 

One need not be pessimistic to realize that here are serious 
conditions. They are economic, social, political, and religious. 
The great difficulty is that all too many assume that they must 
of necessity spell ruin. Such fail to recognize the possibilities 
bound up within the foreigner — possibilities which need but to 
be appreciated to be developed into assets for American civiliza- 
tion. Morgan Memorial, fully alive to this fact, ministers to 
the polyglot population of its neighborhood in a manner to 
bring out the very best of which these nations are capable. 

One sitting on the platform by the side of the children's 
preacher on a Sunday morning, cannot but notice the nationali- 
ties of the section as they are represented here. No mistaking 
the children. They have not yet been fashioned in the common 
mold. Their features tell of Jewish, and Greek, and Italian 
homes, and of many others, including the American Negro and 
the Irish, who is now a native American ! No foreigner this 
latter ! 

One day, while the superintendent was at work, his door 
opened and an angered patron of the institution came in. 
"See here," he exclaimed, "this place ain't on the square." 
"What is the trouble?" was asked quietly. "Well, youse passed 
by us, and gave a job to that wop." "That what?" asked the 
superintendent in surprise. "Youse passed us by and gave a 
job to that dago." "That what?" was asked again, with the 
accent on the what. "Aw, this place ain't on the level," an- 
swered the irritated one, with a show of impatience. "Youse 
passed us by and gave a job to that Eyetalian, that foreigner." 
"Oh, is that it?" said the superintendent. "Well, to tell the 
truth, I understood you from the first. But, by the way, what 
is your name ?" "Moike Flaherty, sor." 

No, he was no foreigner. Of course not. But the genial 



78 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

superintendent made him see that after all we are all of us of 
comparatively recent date on these shores, even the members of 
the oldest families, and that there is really no distinction to be 
made among the races. Men are to be judged by what they are, 
and in a place like Morgan Memorial by their need. That par- 
ticular Italian about whom complaint was made happened to 
be one of the most pitiable cases that have come to the attention 
of the institution in a long time. Recently come to Boston from 
a Western city, with a large family, wife sick, a daughter with 
several children all falling back upon him for support, no work, 
and no way of getting any — suffering had indeed been his lot, 
and that of his family. The Morgan came in just in time to 
extend a helping hand, and by giving an opportunity for work 
in a self-respecting way, to assist the bread-winner. 

Eace prejudice is at once the most contemptible and the most 
dangerous of national evils. It is old as human nature. History 
proclaims on page after page its disastrous effects; yet it con- 
tinues. It throws half a world into the field of combat, sending 
the best of the brood to untimely and ghastly death. On 
American soil it arrays classes against one another. Can we not 
learn that from the beginning this country has been the meet- 
ing place of the races? As early as 1644 we find eighteen 
different languages spoken on the streets of New York city — 
more in proportion to the population than now. When the 
American Revolution broke out, one fifth of the people of the 
thirteen colonies could not speak English, and one half were 
not of Anglo-Saxon extraction. These are the races that mingled 
together and produced the old stock, so called, in our American 
state. While names of Anglo-Saxon origin predominate among 
the old families, one cannot but be impressed by the large 
number of names with the flavor of other countries than 
England. 

We make the mistake of acting as if we thought that only 
English settled in this country in the early days. True as it is 
that the major part came from England, it is equally true that 
there came from other countries no inconsiderable number. 



AMONG THE FOBEIGN-BOKN 79 

Need we be reminded of the Dutch in New York, the Swedes 
in Delaware, the French Huguenots in the Carolinas, the Ger- 
mans in Pennsylvania, and the Scotch-Irish in various settle- 
ments of the country — just to mention the larger of these 
elements from other parts of Europe that came to the American 
continent? The fact is, that this has been from the very first 
the haven for the oppressed anywhere, the home of those who 
would be free, wherever they may have been born. To read the 
names of the men of eminence in the early days of the colonies, 
and in those times when the republic was being brought into 
being, is to cause to pass before us practically all of the leading 
countries of Europe. Morgan Memorial is but true to the 
best American traditions when it interprets its charter as that 
of an open field for work among the children of the Old World 
now living on these shores. 

The important question in connection with the immigrant is 
being answered in the South End in two ways. What kind of 
an American is this foreigner to be? What ideals are to be 
dominant in his life? The South End saloon, the place of sin 
and wickedness, men of low ideals in private, in business, and in 
public life are there. These have one answer to give. The 
chief danger in foreign immigration is at this point. If the 
foreigner, ignorant of American ways and manners, conceive 
the idea that Americanism is to be interpreted in the terms of 
vice, graft, and dishonesty, then we may well tremble for the 
future of the republic. The fact is, we find when we get under 
the surface of things, that the average foreigner does not come 
here bad. He comes a hard-working, honest man, anxious for 
a chance. Many of them, in fact, are anxious for the very same 
opportunity that was sought by the forefathers of the most 
thoroughgoing American. 

One of the chief attacks made upon present-day immigra- 
tion is at this very point. We are told that the tide has shifted 
from the north to the south of Europe. True, but what of 
that? While they are not the same as those of the north, these 
peoples of the south are identical with their northern brethren 



80 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

in more particulars than we often think. Of course, large 
numbers are brought here for economic purposes purely and 
simply. The urge that drove them across the waters was per- 
haps that of the steamship company or some relative returning 
with ready money as a result of a few years in the United 
States. Yet not all by any means. Here are the Jews. Has 
not this been a race seeking an opportunity for religious liberty ? 
Here are the Hungarians, the Poles, the Finns. Have they 
not been seeking political liberty? We have read history and 
the record of contemporary events to little account if we do 
not realize that these men and women who are coming to 
America, many of them, are actuated by the very highest 
purposes. 

The Morgan seeks to counteract the influence of the nefarious 
agencies of the South End and of the city in general by minis- 
tering to these foreign populations, and nobly does it perform its 
task. In study classes, social quarters, through friendly visita- 
tion, by church services, in all ways possible it strives to bring 
the best of our American civilization into the lives of these who 
have so recently come to our shores. That it succeeds is part, 
and no small part either, of the fine record of the institution. 

Given a young foreigner in the raw, and you have as fine 
virgin soil as you could desire to till for Americanism. Let us 
step into one of these services. Perhaps we will select a patriotic 
occasion. Patriotism is always paramount at Morgan Memorial. 
The flag is always there, and respect and love for it are taught 
every child — yes, every person, adult and child, who steps across 
the threshold. But it is on a patriotic occasion like Lincoln's 
Birthday or Washington's, or Thanksgiving Day that we see 
the spirit revealed at its best. There will be fifteen or sixteen 
nationalities represented on the program and in the audience, 
but everything about the place and the exercises is permeated 
with the spirit of unity. The differences have disappeared, and 
all races have blended into one — the American. The songs, 
the recitations, the exercises in concert, are all interpreted with 
a will and enthusiasm wholesome and contagious. Recently in 



AMONG THE FOREIGN-BORN 81 

connection with one of these occasions, a little Jewish girl, 
whose parents had heen here but a year or two, sang "America" 
as a solo, and with much fervor told the congregation of this 
"land of the free," land where her "fathers died!" We smile 
at such an incident, but back of the words is the spirit out of 
which true Americans are made. 

The mingling of the races at the Morgan is one of the most 
encouraging features of it all. In those club rooms, and in the 
various industries and services, foreign-born and native Amer- 
ican touch elbows and learn to know one another. There is 
little danger of race friction when we become acquainted. We 
are often troubled with the problem of assimilation. How can 
we assimilate such large numbers? The great question, how- 
ever, that is of fundamental importance in this particular, 
escapes most people. We seem to think that the assimilation 
must be physical, and from that many recoil. We wonder, with 
the steerage in mind, if it can ever be done. In this we miss 
the real core of the problem. The assimilation that is needed is 
that of ideals. The mingling of the blood of the races can 
well be left to itself. There are certain well-defined laws that 
will take care of that. They always have, and if they do not 
here, it will be the first time in history. If we look at England, 
we find Anglo and Saxon and Viking and Teuton and Norman — 
mentioning only the main strains — at enmity with one another 
at first, hating as enemies, and then mingling, blending into 
a great whole that produces a new race known as the English. 
So it has been with the other races of the Old World. Primary 
bloods, so to speak, have mixed to produce a new. That phase 
of assimilation can well be left to work itself out. And that 
because it waits on a far more important question — that of the 
assimilation of ideals. 

An institution such as Morgan Memorial is doing some of 
its very best work in Americanism at this point. By bringing 
these nationalities together under friendly conditions they be- 
come acquainted, and a new community of ideals comes to pass, 
gradually but very certainly. We must not imagine for a 



82 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

moment that the sum total of noble ideals is to be found within 
ourselves, whatever the country of our origin. The Hungarian 
and the Pole, the Italian and the Greek, the Finn and the Jew, 
each has his aspirations which he can and must contribute to 
American life. These in turn, shot through and through with 
what is known as Americanism, will result in a new national 
life that, containing the best of the old, in its sum total will 
produce the greatest civilization humanity has ever seen. 

One of the dreams of Morgan Memorial in this respect is in 
process of being realized as this book is being written. The 
Church of All Nations, unique as a phase of a unique institu- 
tion, will furnish opportunity for a still larger ministry to 
the South End's polyglot population. The work that will then 
be done on a large scale is now being carried on in the old 
quarters and will be the nucleus for the enlarged plant. It is 
proposed first of all to have services in this church in several 
of the languages of the people of the neighborhood. There are 
in Boston clergymen of these nationalities, some of whom will 
become affiliated with the Morgan for this purpose. They will 
preach to their people who live in the South End and help to 
minister to them through the Morgan. Services during the 
week, socials and other activities are to be phases of the work. 
With the large printing establishment connected with the insti- 
tution available, it is expected to branch out so as to publish 
literature for these several nationalities. Who knows but that 
this may yet become the center of all the non-English work 
under the auspices of Methodism m New England? There will 
be in it then an element of unity that it does not possess at the 
present time. 

Two things make a people, among others — community of 
language and community of ideals. Community of language is 
provided for in this country through our public schools. The 
dialects and tongues of Europe soon blend into the English of 
the United States of America. But the community of ideals 
is another matter. The school helps, the business contributes its 
share and also the social intercourse of the places of amusement. 



AMONG THE FOKEIGN-BOKN 83 

But it is upon the church that the nation must depend most to 
give to these ideals those high moral and spiritual aspects that 
are needed if the country is to be saved from degeneration. 
The nations of earth meeting here must be welded together in 
a noble Americanism. 

To this Morgan Memorial contributes in a measure that is 
simply beyond computation. No race prejudice is allowed 
within its walls. Jew and Gentile, white and black, all are one. 
Misery knows little pride of race. One is strikingly reminded 
of this as he looks into the faces of those down-and-outs at the 
morning service. They sit together and are one in their trouble. 
The problem is to keep them such when they have eaten a good 
meal and are again on their feet. Well, over yonder in the 
various rooms they work in harmony. You see, there is no 
recourse ; they simply must — that is part of the program of the 
institution. Morgan Memorial knows them all as human beings, 
that's all. And when they get to know one another they too 
must learn to appreciate the different points of view. One day 
the Irishman will awaken to a sense of this, and he will remark, 
"Well, an Italian is not so bad after all." And the Italian will 
see that a Slav can be "a pretty good fellow." And the Amer- 
ican will realize that "those foreigners are all right." It is all 
in the day's work — the day's work of Morgan Memorial in 
helping to solve the problem of the foreign-born. 

And in this, as in many others, Morgan Memorial is making 
a most conspicuous and notable contribution to American life. 
Its methods and its work are worthy of study and emulation by 
others. After all, they are very simple — a realization of the 
intrinsic worth of every nation, a determination to give all a 
chance, an absence of race prejudice, and a mingling together 
of the races, to bring about an assimilation of ideals among 
children and adults, that out of it there may come thorough- 
going Americans. Doing this, the Morgan defeats the saloon, 
the dance hall, the gambling hell, and the brothel, and carries 
on its work of regeneration in the South End, helping in the 
upbuilding of the nation. 



CHAPTEE X 

Morgan Memorial as a Church 

Morgan - Memorial is distiguished from the ordinary social 
settlement by its religions features. It is in the very strictest 
sense of the term an institutional church. And it magnifies the 
church. This is one phase of the work that is little known. 
Much attention has been drawn to the industrial plant, its 
success as a rescue mission is widely known, the children's work 
has been extensively advertised — in fact, practically every de- 
partment has been placed before the public in a way to identify 
it permanently with the institution. But the church has been 
largely ignored. Yet this is a very important part of the work. 
It is, in fact, the means by which the Morgan is linked to the 
denomination whose name it bears, and the spiritual center 
around which the religious life of its community revolves. 
Those who ignore it neglect the very dynamic that gives to the 
institution its power. 

We face at this point the danger that confronts all work of 
this kind. In an honest desire to reach all sorts and conditions 
of men the spiritual is often minimized, or entirely eliminated. 
This statement is not to be construed as a reflection upon the 
social settlement frankly conducted as such. It has its place. 
As a church, however, the work must be centered about 
the religious element. That this can be done successfully is 
demonstrated beyond cavil by Morgan Memorial. It has steadily 
and persistently refused any attempt at secularization. It has 
insisted from the first that it is a religious institution and that 
its life centers about the church. This does not mean that the 
industrial, institutional, and other phases are used for prose- 
lyting purposes. Not in the least. One may secure all the 

84 



MOE.GAN MEMOEIAL AS A CHUECH 85 

advantages of these activities without becoming a member of 
the church. But it is saying that the soul of Morgan Memorial 
is a church, that at the very heart of it all is a normal religious 
organization fully equipped to minister to the spiritual needs 
of its members and to serve its community. 

According to the latest records, this church has a membership 
of two hundred and twelve. It is necessary, however, to 
note that this does not represent in the least the spiritual re- 
sults of the institution. Many of those reached by the rescue 
work never become affiliated with this church at all. They 
belong elsewhere. Their names are sent to the pastor of the 
home church, whether it be in some other section of the city 
or in some community at a distance, to which the converted 
man or woman is to return. Then again, many of those of the 
neighborhood who become members of the church soon find that 
they desire to live in some other part of the city. Having 
been reached by the wholesome principles of the gospel of Christ, 
they find their old surroundings no longer to their taste. They 
would give their children a different atmosphere. Eemoving r 
they very naturally take with them their church letters. Thus 
it is that the membership of Morgan Memorial is kept small, 
for as a church it is a constant feeder for other churches. While 
daily are being added those who are being saved, daily also, 
become strong and stalwart Christians, they are finding their 
way into the religious organizations of Greater Boston. Many a 
church has deep gratitude for Morgan Memorial because of a 
leader in its activities who has come by way of that organiza- 
tion. The Morgan produces true Christians, spiritual workers, 
for they are men and women who have religious experiences. 

The church, it should be said, is organized in all ways ac- 
cording to the provisions of the Discipline of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. It has its stewards, its trustees, its class 
leaders, and its local preachers. Affiliated with it are the Sun- 
day school, the Epworth League, the Ladies' Aid Society, the 
Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Societies, and the 
Brotherhood. In fact, nothing that a well-regulated church has 



86 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

in the way of societies is omitted. And why should they be? 
Are not these residents of the South End entitled to a church? 
A little thinking as to this will bring out the large place that 
the church must necessarily fill in a community of this kind. 
It is the very center of life. 

This statement is made advisedly. In a far different sense 
from its use in connection with the average community is this 
so. There was a time when the church occupied that unique 
place of prominence in our American life. It is to be feared 
that it has now ceased to be this in the very large proportion of 
cases. The founders of the republic built their state around 
the church and the schoolhouse. While this is still technically 
the case, the church has, in fact, been largely eliminated. True, 
its spirit permeates, or is supposed to permeate, the whole of 
our modern life. But the church itself occupies no longer the 
dominant place in the community thought and activity that 
once it did. Of that we are all aware. It is this very thing that 
is being proclaimed as the desideratum in the solution of our 
modern problems. If we would transform the rural communities, 
save the sparsely settled sections, then the church must be 
rehabilitated as the center of all life. It must concern itself 
with all that concerns man. In the spirit of the ancient Roman 
nothing that is of importance to man can be matter of in- 
difference to it. In the city likewise this must be true. Un- 
fortunately, however, there are a thousand and one things that 
draw men away. Our amusements, our social life, our business 
affairs, have little or nothing to do with the church. The 
church is for worship — the rest of life we spend elsewhere. 

It is at this point that Morgan Memorial as a church differs 
from the ordinary religious organization. It is the center of its 
community. And this because it touches all of life. It could 
not well be otherwise. Was not hope born anew in the heart 
of its members because of this institution? Is it not a branch 
of it that has come to their rescue time and again? Are they 
not visited constantly by its workers, encouraged by them in 
their hard battles? Yes, all of this and much more is true. 



MORGAN MEMORIAL AS A CHURCH 87 

The result is that they think in the terms of Morgan Memorial. 

A regular service is held each Sunday morning at half-past 
ten. It is a dignified, orderly service, in every way conforming 
to the ritual of the denomination. A vested choir, well drilled, 
leads the congregation in its singing, and furnishes special 
selections. The pastor of the church, who is the superintendent 
of the institution, is regularly appointed, together with his 
associate, at the sessions of the New England Conference. One 
or the other of these men preaches each Sunday. Of course, 
there are many calls for the presentation of Morgan Memorial 
in different churches and these are accepted as far as possible, 
that the varied work of the institution may be drawn to the 
attention of the public generally. It requires a great deal of 
capital to keep the plant in operation, and to meet the constant 
demand for new buildings and better equipment. Through 
these addresses and sermons delivered in various parts of the 
country the hearts of many generous men and women have been 
opened, and large gifts secured for the work. 

Morgan Memorial magnifies its Sunday school. Important 
as this organization is in other churches, one risks nothing in 
saying that it is doubly so here. We have already seen how the 
institution cares for the young life in its recreational, physical, 
and general educational needs. Now, while all of these features 
are maintained in the spirit of religion — they are surrounded 
by the Christian atmosphere — they are not in the very nature 
of the case to be confused with spiritual culture. To the 
Sunday school belongs this work. I have said that it is doubly 
important in this community as compared with the average 
church. No one who keeps the nature of the South End in 
mind will question the statement. Foreign, abounding in most 
unfortunate conditions, homes many of them without Christian 
antecedents — in such surroundings the most thorough construc- 
tive work must be done, if the generations are to grow up wise 
unto salvation, and know and believe those things which a 
Christian ought to know and believe to his soul's health. Those 
in charge of Morgan Memorial have realized this and have 



88 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

provided to meet the need. In many of these homes Christianity 
has been associated or encumbered with many Old World super- 
stitions. Eeligion is a matter of works and idolatry almost. 
Others have grown up without religious ideas of any kind. 
Then one day trouble came, and they heard of the Morgan, 
and they went there for help. Or a deaconess, a visitor, knocked 
at the door in an hour of need, and the Morgan stretched out 
its friendly hand. Anyway, the day came when attention was 
drawn to religion, and now the little ones of the household are 
in the Sunday school. The work of religious instruction must 
be from the ground up, and it must be done with thoroughness. 

A graded Sunday school in all of its departments, well 
officered, with competent teachers throughout — this is the school 
connected with Morgan Memorial. How is it done? Through 
volunteer helpers. The institution has such an appeal about it, 
there is that something in it that captures the imagination so 
quickly, that men and women respond heartily to its call for 
service. Among these are students from the deaconess training 
school and also from Boston University School of Theology, 
who find in this work opportunity to help a worthy cause and 
obtain at the same time definite training. Also there are those 
regularly connected with the institution well prepared to give 
instruction. What should be emphasized at this point is that 
the Sunday school by its appointments, its organization, and its 
teaching force is well equipped to carry on the important work 
of religious instruction in the South End. 

Supplementing the Sunday school is the Epworth League. 
In this organization one finds a type of normal Christianity, the 
kind he has a right to expect among red-blooded, healthy young 
people. The League fills an important place in the life of the 
institution. Youth is gregarious, and youth is many-sided. 
You cannot interest them simply in one side of work, however 
important that may be. I saw a young boy — he was about 
seventeen years of age — working one evening for definite 
spiritual results, trying to lead his chum of about the same age 
to confess Christ. It was done naturally, spontaneously, and 



MORGAN MEMORIAL AS A CHURCH 89 

withal successfully, for the youth went forward. They rejoiced 
then, did those young people. But we must not think that this 
would fill to the full the life of youth. There are the calls of 
the social life, the aspirations of the intellectual, the desire for 
pleasure. While the institution in other departments provides 
for much of this, the League as an integral part of the church 
makes its own not inconsiderable contribution. Socials, study 
classes, "good times," these are part and parcel of this League 
life. And in doing this, it is a valued arm of the service of the 
Morgan plant. 

It is hardly necessary to dwell on the other features of this 
church, yet they are so important they can scarcely be omitted. 
The Ladies' Aid is as vital a unit at Morgan Church as it is in 
the usual church. Around it centers much of the life of the 
Morgan family — if we may thus term the church membership 
and its friends in distinction from the larger constituency to 
which it ministers. For in a very real sense the Morgan is a 
family church. Some may smile as they read these words, but 
it is so none the less. While we are accustomed to think of the 
family church as located in some secluded community, where 
refinement and wealth are the distinguishing marks, it is equally 
true that in a locality like the South End one secures after a 
time an organization of this type. It may be a trifle different, 
if you please, but a family church it is. The poor and the 
unfortunate who have been reached by the work of the institu- 
tion, find in this common altar a bond of union that is beyond 
the power of pen to describe. They can sing whole-heartedly 
"Blest Be the Tie That Binds," for they are joined together in 
a very real sense. It is a family, and as a family they meet in 
church, as a family they meet for a social hour now and then, 
as a family also they strike hands in the Ladies' Aid, working 
together to raise funds and to advance the interests of the 
church they love. 

Cottage prayer meetings, services of prayer during the week, 
the Brotherhood — these are others of the activities of the church 
aside from those already described. In a word and in sum, the 



90 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

Morgan Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church is a church in 
every sense of the term, and those who worship there sing with 
a feeling that is profound indeed, realizing to the full what it 
means to them — so many have been snatched as brands from 
the burning: 

I love thy church, O God! 

Her walls before thee stand, 
Dear as the apple of thine eye, 

And graven on thy hand. 

For her my tears shall fall; 

For her my prayers ascend; 
To her my cares and toils be given; 

Till toils and cares shall end. 



CHAPTER XI 

A Contribution to National Welfare 

We are face to face in Morgan Memorial with one of the 
most potent salutary agencies in American life. Its ministry, 
rightly understood, is a positive contribution to our national 
welfare; this because of its peculiar location and the people 
among whom it works. Surging about it are the masses out of 
whose ranks come the disturbing elements in our social struc- 
ture, for here are the hungry, the out-of-work, the wrecked. 
Many, let it be granted, have brought much of their suffering 
upon themselves. Still others, and they too are many, have 
simply been caught in the awful maw of our industrial life. 
Perhaps they are not among the brilliant; to them no ten 
talents have been given. But they are human beings, and life 
has gone hard with them. In their despair, with the wolf 
literally at the door, children crying for bread, wife hollow- 
eyed and sunken of cheek, they form easy prey for the pro- 
fessional agitator. These are they who can be organized to 
strike, and strike hard, against the economic and social condi- 
tions of the day. 

It is not the purpose of this work to enter into a discussion 
of the principles involved in the economic situation in which 
as a nation we find ourselves at the present time. Let it be 
simply admitted in passing that we are going through one of the 
greatest social revolutions of the ages. Now and then we feel 
the disturbance of it. For the most part, it is almost imper- 
ceptible; yet it moves to the very depths. A new age is being 
born even as we live, and to us is it given to be a part of it. 
In a very definite sense Morgan Memorial is making its con- 
tribution to the forces that are bringing about this new era. 
For it ministers to elements that are part and parcel of the 

91 



92 THE KEDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

great social problem of the times; it deals with the very symp- 
toms of the disease which social worker and church are trying 
to cure. 

Hunger has little regard for laws or systems. If it be per- 
sonified in a Jean Valjean, it will break through the window 
that bread may be secured for the children, and when society 
brings down its heavy hand, it will arraign itself against it and 
curse it. One need not approve an act to record it. Hence, we 
may take note of the sullen masses who, in their despair as 
human bankrupts in an age of plenty, raise their voices against 
all organizations representative of the present order. And is 
not the church part of the system? Is it not patronized by the 
rich and supported by the well-to-do? Then let the church be 
anathema ! This their cry. 

It has well been said that the only way to deal with those 
who go about declaring that there is no God, dethroning him in 
their hate, is to give them a different kind of a God than the one 
to whom they had been accustomed, to bring upon their horizon 
One whom they can enthrone. The only way to handle the 
vexed social conditions of the age is to come to them with a 
constructive program that will point to the more excellent way. 
It will not do to ignore facts. We could not if we would. The 
only indifference we can manifest is toward the period of 
reconstruction; beholding the disturbance, we can elect to let 
things drift. That means the rocks sooner or later. 

Located in the midst of the multitudes, many of whom have 
been submerged by poverty and suffer all the pangs of the 
injustice to be found in many phases of the present social 
order, Morgan Memorial has a service to perform that is most 
salutary. It is a link between the two extremes of life, a 
servant to the two dominant classes of society. It proclaims 
to the unfortunate that all success is not due to rascality, and 
that employers are not necessarily always actuated by greed; 
that the social order is not all wrong, however much of it may 
need readjustment. On the other hand, it says to the successful, 
the comfortable, that the poor are not necessarily all bad, and 



A CONTRIBUTION TO NATIONAL WELFARE 93 

that they have not all failed because they lacked thrift or 
ability; that the present social order is not of necessity right 
because they themselves have succeeded. But more than that, 
it has a message to the dissatisfied, to the man who grumbles 
unpleasantly at the church, and that is, that the church is 
interested in the poor; that it cares for those who are among 
the unknown; that it has an open heart for human failures. 
And that because it is true to the spirit of Jesus, the Carpenter 
of Nazareth. 

The Morgan is a veritable bulwark in this respect. If you 
will step into the Spa any evening, you will find gathered there 
men who have come from these homes of the neighborhood, 
and many of them from no homes at all. Not far from here 
you will find saloons. The men drinking in these come from the 
same places. They have worked hard all day, some of them; 
others are without work, yet they have money to buy drink. 
There are rough men in these drinking places. Here crime is 
often hatched, here the worst element congregates; but again 
they come from the same neighborhood, patrons of the Spa and 
patrons of the saloon. In the one instance, however, you have 
the forces that make for the destruction of American ideals; 
in the other, those that are for their development and up- 
building. Whence the difference? In this, that Morgan 
Memorial has succeeded in bringing home to these men gathered 
under its roof a realization of the place of the church in our 
national life and of the influences that make for the country's 
advancement. How are these results reached? The institution 
itself in its entirety, in its very ministry, is the answer. Yet 
specifically there is also the special social service that comes 
out of it. 

Morgan Memorial appeals to the whole of the normal nature. 
That we have already seen several times. It may be noted now, 
however, that it does this definitely through those agencies that 
are not especially religious. If the saloon is such a potent 
magnet because of its free and easy hospitality and its low-priced 
lunch, then why is it not possible to have just the same kind of 



9± THE BEDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

an institution without its evil influences? And it is. A good 
lunch will be served for five cents in the Spa. Then there are 
coffee and cocoa and plenty of sociability. The former bar- 
tender who is in charge knows his art. And the "boys/' playing 
checkers, reading, chatting, having a good time, feel no re- 
straints but those of decency. They settle there all the problems 
of the government and some others ! In fact, they are enjoying 
themselves. 

The entire absence of cant from the religious life of Morgan 
Memorial is what gives it its influence for good among the 
classes that frequent it. The Morgan does not ignore their 
problems, and does not assert that all is well with the world and 
all is wrong with the unfortunate. It knows better than that. 
Those who are toiling here as Christian workers understand full 
well the modern social and industrial conditions. They know 
the weak points as well as the strong. And herein is the secret 
of their success. They can minister constructively because 
they understand. Listening to the recital of harrowing ex- 
periences, they can place the blame, or approximate, and they 
can sympathize. Thus are they able to make the toilers see 
that the church is interested in them and in their problems — 
and interested not in an academic way, but in a very real and 
personal manner. 

One of the great difficulties with our protestation of concern 
for the masses is that it ends there. We talk interestingly 
about it, we spin fine theories, and then we go away and 
straightway forget what manner of thing we have said. But 
Morgan Memorial is a laboratory of social service, it is social 
service itself, the church in the midst of the workers, the church 
spending itself for and with them, the toilers, in fact, them- 
selves composing the church. What more forceful appeal then 
to the angry and broken-down wreck who curses society and the 
church than a church of his fellows, saying to him, "Come 
with us. We are one with you, in the spirit of our Elder 
Brother, the Carpenter of Nazareth." None can assert the 
church has forgotten its first mission in the face of this. 




Diplome de Grand Prix 







GOLD MEDALS WON AT LIEGE AND SAINT LOUIS EXPOSI- 
TIONS 



A CONTRIBUTION" TO NATIONAL WELFARE 95 

Morgan Memorial also reveals its genuineness by being more 
than a charitable organization. The unfortunates of society 
to-day are asking for justice and not charity; they want a 
chance to work at a fair wage, and not a gift. What they 
condemn is a system which is so organized that work is denied 
to any who may desire it. Without attempting in any way to 
discuss the premises upon which these conclusions rest, it is 
enough to say that the fact that the church through such an 
agency as the Morgan takes an interest in these conclusions is 
salutary. It helps where relief is needed. It gives employ- 
ment — emergency employment — at a fair wage. Then it seeks 
to secure places for the out-of-work at a just remuneration. 
Moreover, it is interested, positively, actively, in every movement 
that makes for the amelioration of the conditions under which 
the toilers live. Honest wages, good working surroundings, 
sanitary tenements, the eradication of vice from the neighbor- 
hood, recreation places — in short, the entire modern social pro- 
gram finds its exponents and advocates in this institution. 

Such activity, it can be readily seen, cannot but have that 
influence among the masses which we can describe as beneficial. 
It points out to the dissatisfied, ready to break out in their 
anger, that there is a better way to accomplish the end that they 
seek. Linking them with the church, it reveals to them the only 
program which, after all has been said and done, will ever heal 
the ills of humanity. Not in anarchy, not in a godless state, 
will relief be found, but in the ethics of the New Testament as 
proclaimed by the Nazarene. Much has been gained indeed 
when this has been inculcated into the hearts of men. 

On the other hand, is it not true also that the ministry it 
performs for the fortunate in life is equally important? Is it 
not much that men should know how "the other half lives"? 
Some do not even know — or else they act as if they did not 
know — that there is such a thing as another half. And it is 
even more, if we can make them see things from the viewpoint 
of these unfortunate men and women. Morgan Memorial is a 
perpetual reminder to thousands of comfortably situated people 



96 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

that there is a social problem with which they are bound to 
cope. Yes, and it is even more than that; it forces them to 
think on these things, ugly, disagreeable, revolting at times as 
they may be, and as they think, they grow sympathetic and 
tender. When this has been done, then the moment of rap- 
prochement has arrived. 

It is even here that we find the most important phase of this 
work from the standpoint of society in general — it brings the 
classes and the masses together in a friendly way. When this is 
done, then we are sure we are traveling toward a solution of the 
social problem. Hull House, the South End House, Morgan 
Memorial, and scores of other institutions scattered up and 
down this land, that have attracted varying degrees of attention 
in their work among those whom we are pleased to call at times 
the submerged, and through the interest that they awaken in 
them, are among the most significant forces for the preserva- 
tion of national harmony. Contributing positively to the solu- 
tion of the trying social problems that confront the republic, 
they are the most salutary assets making for our national 
welfare. 



CHAPTER XII 

The Plant in Detail 

No one passing through the South End, that part of it where 
Morgan Memorial is located, would fail to take note of the 
plant. While it has about it the evidences of growth, it is none 
the less an architectural whole. On the corner of Shawmut 
Avenue and Corning Street is the original building, that part 
out of which has developed the magnificent work which to-day 
is arresting the attention of social and religious workers through- 
out the country. It is located there like the keystone of the 
arch — and such it is, with its surmounting cross, and its message 
of love silhouetted against the sky by night and by day. 

Three main buildings form the institution — this first one 
known as the Children's Settlement, erected in 1902 to replace 
a former structure in which the work had its inception, valued 
at $90,000; an industrial building, which was dedicated in 
1904 and cost $104,000, and a Temperance Tower technically 
known as the Fred H. Seavey Seminary Settlement, which rears 
its head seven stories high and is in the process of construction 
as these lines are written. It will cost when completed $95,000. 
To these is to be added later another structure to be known as 
the Church of All Nations. Already the plans are drawn, the 
stones for the front are in hand, and contributions have been 
received for it. Active work of building awaits only some 
additional benefactors who by contributing a few thousands 
more than there are now in hand, will make a reality the dream 
and aspiration of many true and loyal workers who know how 
far-reaching such an addition to the plant will be in its influence. 

A tour through the buildings will indicate more in detail the 
scope of the work being done and give a more adequate idea 

97 



98 THE BEDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

of the institution. In fact, this is the very thing that is done 
many times a day by visitors from all parts of the country. 
For a social worker or a student of social service to come to 
Boston and not visit Morgan Memorial is for such a one to lose 
an opportunity of the first magnitude to see the best ideas and 
theories of modern social service in actual operation. Not 
many miss it, if we are to judge by the number of those who in 
the course of a month come to the institution. Guides are 
always at hand to pilot courteously the visitor through the 
labyrinthal hallways and stairways of the plant. Let us join a 
party of these tourists and be personally conducted. 

We enter the institution by way of the Children's Settlement, 
and note that the structure is four stories high, and that it has 
a towerlike arrangement upon which is the cross with its mes- 
sage of love. Ascending half a flight of stairs, we are in 
Emmons Hall, which is the center of the social life of the 
institution. During the hard winter of 1914-15, it was found 
necessary to make use of this room for the employment bureau, 
so large was the number of persons applying for work. The 
hall is used in the afternoon for the "children's hour," when, 
from 3.30 until 6, between seventy-five and a hundred and fifty 
children assemble to play games or to be assisted in their home 
lessons by the attendants. 

From Emmons Hall we go to the gymnasium, which is 
equipped with shower baths and locker rooms for both boys 
and girls. The gymnasium is used largely as an incentive to 
get children into the industrial school classes, as those who join 
the classes are given the free use of the gymnasium and its 
instruction. At one side of the gymnasium is the Children's 
Church, where the services for the little ones are conducted by 
a pastor of their own. As already stated in another chapter, the 
children are their own ushers, their own choir, and care in every 
way for their service. This is the second link in the chain which 
unites the children of the neighborhood to the Morgan. The first 
link is a Sunday evening church service in the auditorium for the 
children only, when moving picture films are the attraction. 



THE PLANT IN DETAIL 99 

This is regularly attended by over four hundred children, and 
from among these the more promising ones are selected to 
attend the morning church service. The third link is seen 
once a year when the children's minister turns over to the 
pastor of the church those of the morning congregation who 
are ready for church membership. 

The next place to be visited is the Temperance Saloon, or Spa, 
as it is sometimes called. This is open every evening at five 
o'clock and does not close until 10.30. It is equipped with 
piano, lounging settees, games and reading matter. Nothing is 
left undone to make the place successful as a competing agency 
with the saloon. Here is also a counter where may be pur- 
chased a better lunch for five cents than can be secured in any 
place where liquor is sold, and the lunch is offered as an attrac- 
tion. Over one hundred men are to be found in the Spa each 
evening. Not a week passes but several men sign the pledge 
here and become Christians. 

Next to the saloon is the rug salesroom where a small supply 
of the rugs made from old carpets and rags is kept on hand. 
We have seen that most of the work on these is done at South 
Athol, where the men are free from the temptations of the 
city. The money realized from the sale of the rugs practically 
pays for the maintenance of the men's residence at the farm. 
The tour takes us now to the collecting department. The 
Morgan has in circulation about forty-five thousand relief bags, 
distributed in the homes of Greater Boston. Three auto trucks 
and two wagons are in constant use making these collections 
and delivering empty bags to the residences. The teamsters 
and chauffeurs are men who have been reached by the institu- 
tion, and with them are sent each day helpers who have come 
in search of work. 

From this department we step into the employment bureau. 
It is in this room that in ordinary times the men and women 
who are seeking work assemble. After a short devotional service 
they are assigned to some part of the industrial plant. During 
the winter of 1914-15 times were so hard that the average was 



100 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

over one hundred and twenty every day. Naturally, it was a 
severe task to find employment for such numbers. The institu- 
tion paid during that winter over $100 a day in this way — not 
charity, but self-respecting work. The Morgan paid in wages 
to the needy during the year 1914 over $23,000. 

The general store next invites the attention of the visitor. 
Material which has been collected, repaired, put in order, is 
sent to the store and put on sale at prices which are a positive 
help to the people of the neighborhood. Aside from this store 
there are also branches in East Cambridge, South Boston, East 
Boston, West End, Charlestown, and Boxbury Crossing. The 
main store has the following departments : Shoes, women's cloth- 
ing, children's clothing, men's clothing, second-hand books, furni- 
ture, and kitchenware. The sales are used to pay wages in the 
various industrial departments. 

From the store we step into the repair rooms. Before the 
material can be offered for sale, it has to be put in order. These 
include those who are working on the old furniture, shoes, and 
clothing, and also a department where clothing is pressed. The 
material which is too far worn to be repaired and yet is in 
such a condition that it does not seem right to use it for rags, 
is sent to the mountain whites of North Carolina and Tennessee. 

Below the repairing room is a department where all goods are 
disinfected. Such as is not usable in other ways is sent to the 
paper mills. Last year over $4,000 was received from this 
source. On the floor beneath this the rags that have been sorted 
are pressed into five-hundred-pound bales and stored. The 
Morgan has an eye on the market, and it does not sell its goods 
until the prices are exactly right. 

A very interesting room is that where the bags are addressed. 
It requires considerable work to keep these forty-five thousand 
in order. Each metal plate containing the name of the con- 
tributor is placed on file, furnishing one of the best mailing 
lists to be found in Greater Boston. On this floor also are the 
rooms devoted to the industrial school, where the boys and girls 
are given instruction in carpentry, tinkering, cobbling, brass 



THE PLANT IN DETAIL 101 

work, basketry, cooking, millinery, and dressmaking. The three- 
room model suite in which the girls are taught housekeeping is 
also on this floor. 

The next floor is devoted, in the first place, to the printing 
establishment. An institution such as the Morgan needs con- 
siderable printer's ink. In fact, it is one of the best assets for 
making known the needs of the work. The Good Samaritan is 
the name of a publication that is issued quarterly by the 
Morgan — a little magazine that goes out to forty-five thousand 
people and tells them concerning the progress of the institution. 
On this floor is also located the day nursery, where the mothers 
who work during the day leave their children. No less than 
one hundred and one of these little ones, representing seventeen 
different nationalities, were enrolled in this nursery when this 
book was in preparation. It is thoroughly equipped with play 
room, dining room, kitchen, dormitory, and all the other neces- 
sary appurtenances. Those children that are old enough are given 
kindergarten privileges during the morning hours. The daily 
program includes lunch at noon, after which all the little tots 
are put in bed for a good sleep. A charge of five cents a day 
is made, so that the service is not looked upon as gratuitous. 
While this does not pay from a financial standpoint, it never- 
theless is another indication of the firm purpose of the Morgan 
to do nothing for nothing — in no way to pauperize the people 
of this neighborhood. 

From this room we go to the fourth floor of the Children's 
Settlement building, which is equipped with six music rooms. 
Here lessons are given on the piano, violin, guitar, and mandolin, 
as well as in voice. Here also is the tower room, where is located 
the art department. The art and music features of Morgan 
Memorial are of particular importance and value in reaching 
the children of Southern European parentage. Below this floor 
is located the church auditorium, which is also used as an 
assembly room for the Children's Settlement. Here the regular 
church services are held on Sunday. 

The various buildings are so linked together that it is difficult 



102 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

to tell when one passes from the old to the new. In a word, 
however, the stores, day nursery, industrial school classrooms, 
printing department, addressograph department, superintend- 
ent's office, and five floors for the industries are located in the 
new industrial building, while the other departments described 
are in the Children's Settlement part of the institution. 

The new Temperance Tower, which carries the name of the 
Fred H. Seavey Seminary Settlement, is in the course of con- 
struction as this is written. It will be a most valuable addition. 
Its seven stories will make it a landmark in the community, 
while the activities that will center within it will be among 
the most important of the institution. For many years it has been 
seen that the rescue work, that part which has to do directly 
with the dissipated and the wrecks of human life, should be 
kept as distinct as possible from that devoted to the children. 
The dissolute in their bestiality, in other words, should be segre- 
gated from the little ones. It was not, however, until the 
Temperance Tower became a reality that it was possible to 
carry this plan into effect. Now at last it is an accomplished 
fact. Here in the Seminary Settlement — I write in the 
present because it will be completed by the time these lines are 
given to the public — one finds the rescue mission where the 
gospel services are held, and an intensive campaign against the 
strongholds of sin is carried on. They work among the dregs 
of society here very often, go after the perishing, reach out for 
the drunkard, the thief, the derelict, the prodigal son who has 
spent his all in the far country. 

As the second part of the name indicates, the Temperance 
Tower is to be a Seminary Settlement — a place where students 
of Boston University School of Theology may be in residence, 
studying at first hand by actually engaging in the work of a 
great social center. In this part of its institution, Morgan 
Memorial is making a most valued contribution to the theological 
educational system of the church. Those men who, with their 
wives — for the dormitories here will be arranged to accommo- 
date married students — are deemed worthy through academic 



THE PLANT IN DETAIL 103 

and other qualities that indicate ability of a sufficiently high 
order to warrant the distinction to be assigned to this residence, 
will go out into the work equipped for service as none have 
been able to do under the old system. They will have vision and 
consecration plus training in actual methods. 

As the Tower is not yet completed, it is not possible to give 
a full account of what is done in this building, but a program 
has been prepared by Mr. Edward A. Buss, the consulting 
engineer of the institution, that incorporates fully the details 
of the work as planned. It makes interesting reading, revealing 
as it does the scope that is assured for this part of the plant. 
The basement will be used for a men's club room and entertain- 
ment hall, and will be provided with a stage at one end and with 
library, reading room, game room, writing room, and toilet 
appurtenances. The lower story of the building, which will be 
slightly above the level of the sidewalk, is to be provided with a 
lunch room, barber shop, and a room for disinfecting, cleaning 
and pressing clothing, and also a bathroom for men. The second 
story is to have large dormitories with individual beds for the 
men who are first given lodgings in the Tower. The third 
story is to be used for permanent dormitories for the reformed 
men, and will have small rooms for each individual, so as to 
afford privacy and enable the men to develop their self-respect 
and independence. The other stories are to be devoted to small 
apartments for the use of married students of the School of 
Theology who may be in residence. 

The scope of the work may be indicated by the program 
planned for handling the derelicts: First, the ministers will 
have general charge; second, a physician will be on duty two or 
three hours each evening; third, a psychologist will have charge 
of the dormitories to study the men from his standpoint. The 
additional facilities that will thus be provided will permit very 
thorough and systematic work in caring for the unfortunates 
who come within the reach of the institution. 

This is Morgan Memorial in its equipment — a truly marvelous 
plant. Only the Church of All Nations remains as yet a dream. 



104 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

Those who are familiar with the history of Morgan Memorial, 
however, are confident that the dream will not be long in realiza- 
tion. As a matter of fact, the front is already provided for, as 
indicated elsewhere. When the new Wesleyan Building was 
erected on Copley Square in 1913, on the site formerly occupied 
by the Second Unitarian Church of Boston, the stone front of 
that beautiful structure was saved and given by the purchaser to 
Morgan Memorial. The plans for the new building have been 
prepared. The site has been selected — between the Temperance 
Tower and the industrial building. Only one thing remains to 
be found — the funds. And they have faith enough at Morgan 
Memorial to believe that even as in the past, so now some 
steward will come forth and make this important part of the 
institution possible. 

The plans include a basement with mission or gospel hall, to 
be used in connection with the temperance work, classrooms, 
and a main auditorium where services will be conducted Sun- 
days and weekdays in English and in several of the tongues of 
the neighborhood, such as Italian, Greek, Syrian, Yiddish, and 
German. When that day dawns, and the church is opened, it 
will be of a truth a new Pentecost. For will not these people 
exclaim, as they did of old, "How hear we every man in our 
own tongue wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and 
Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and 
Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in 
Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of 
Pome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear 
them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God." What 
an institution is Morgan Memorial ! 



CHAPTER XIII 

South Athol — Morgan Memorial in the Country 

One has not told the story of Morgan Memorial when he has 
described the marvelous institution located in the South End 
of Boston, remarkable as that may be. If he would understand 
in all of its extent the work that is being done, he must leave 
the city, travel toward the Berkshires some eighty miles, until he 
finds himself in the town of Athol. Here in that part which is 
known as South Athol, farming community, far from the 
canyons of the metropolis, with God's pure air to breathe and 
his wide fields to feast upon, Morgan Memorial's beneficent 
influence will be found at its task of transforming human life. 
Eor in this community are located the auxiliary plant and the 
fresh air camps that are most important phases of the work 
connected with the institution. 

South Athol — using the term now to mean the work of 
Morgan Memorial there — is not an accident nor an incident. 
It is based upon considerations of fundamental importance. 
These, briefly stated, are twofold in their relation to the work, 
to which must be added a third from a community standpoint. 
In the first place, South Athol, with its farm, out-of-door work, 
its extensive manufacturing plant, and its freedom from the 
temptations of the city, means an opportunity for establishing 
men in their good resolves and strengthening them for the 
battle of life. Broken-down men who have been reclaimed from 
lives of sin and sent to South Athol leave the settlement literally 
new men, well fortified to meet the temptations that are sure to 
beset them as soon as they return to the city. In the second 
place, South Athol during the summer season means health 
for about one hundred and fifty persons — women, boys and 

105 



106 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

girls, and little ones. After spending two months in its atmos- 
phere, drinking pure milk, eating good food, breathing pure air, 
and enjoying the best that nature can give, these return to the 
city with health written in every line. They have been literally 
re-created. 

Added to these direct benefits that come to the institution 
from the farm, there is a very positive and definite benefit also 
that accrues to the community itself. South Athol has felt the 
thrill of a new life course through its veins. And that because 
the institution, transplanted from the South End to South Athol, 
has not chosen to live in this latter place to itself alone any 
more than it does in the metropolis. Consistently it has re- 
lated itself to the community, and a spirit has come to that 
community that it has not known before. South Athol has 
been transformed. 

Some eight years ago a good woman who believed thoroughly 
in Morgan Memorial and the far-reaching effects of its work, 
caught the inspiration of service as it might be extended through 
a farm directly connected with the institution. She materialized 
the vision by giving to the Morgan the land which she owned in 
South Athol. It is this farm, developed, improved, altered in 
every way necessary to meet the needs of the Morgan, that is 
to-day its extension work. The equipment that Morgan Memorial 
now has in this place consists of a home for the superintendent, 
the Helen Steele Fisk administration camp, a men's home 
and training school, the Emeline Dunn nursery camp for little 
children, the Eoswell S. Douglass camp for boys, Camp Downey 
for girls, Camp Good Will for women, an entertainment hall, 
a rug factory, and a church. The church, while closely related 
to the institution, was in existence, however, before the advent 
of Morgan Memorial to the place. 

It would be difficult to overestimate the value of South Athol 
from the standpoint of the men who are sent there from Boston. 
The rug business, a glimpse of which we have seen in the 
industrial building, has grown to extensive proportions. It is 
not a makeshift by any means, but a commercial enterprise that 



MOEGAN MEMOEIAL IN THE COUNTKY 107 

yields a very substantial revenue, aside from affording a channel 
through which assistance may be given to unfortunate men. 
In charge of a skilled overseer, the work can soon be learned 
by the men who are sent there and proficiency rapidly acquired. 
The larger part of the rug-making of the Morgan is carried on 
here. This, with the farm, gives an opportunity to quite a 
number of men under circumstances that will yield the best 
possible results in the rebuilding of manhood. The men sent to 
the country are selected carefully according to need and promise. 
Out from among them have come several who to-day are defi- 
nitely engaged themselves in social and religious service. Ee- 
claimed, they have a message indeed for their fallen fellows. 

Some of the men are employed directly on the farm itself, 
cultivating it according to the most approved methods. The 
product of this work is enough vegetables, with the exception 
of potatoes, for all the camps. Others are given employment in 
the factory, or about the institution doing odd jobs, caring for 
the hundred and one things that need to be done in such a place. 
Particularly in the summertime, this is by no means an idle 
place with its large colony from the city. One could easily 
rhapsodize over the splendid results of several weeks, and in 
some cases months, spent under such ideal conditions. 

It is perhaps in the summer work carried on that South Athol 
has attracted chief attention. For among the many phases of 
work of this nature established by various institutions, Morgan 
Memorial is distinctive. It has a method that is peculiar to 
itself. This, in fact, has been characteristic of the institution — 
it has not hesitated to blaze new trails when it has thought it 
wise to do so. Briefly stated, the Morgan Memorial summer 
method differs from those usually in vogue in the length of time 
it extends its recreational opportunities to those whom it in- 
vites. It believes in rest, pure food, exercise, wholesome enter- 
tainment, and industrial training, as do all other agencies that 
have adopted the summer school idea. But it believes in it long 
enough in each individual case to restore, if possible, the victim 
of bad environment and disease to physical and spiritual health. 



108 THE EEDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

Hence, instead of two weeks, it takes its guests of the South End 
to South Athol for two months. Two weeks? Why, that is 
hardly time enough for the children of the slums to get over their 
homesickness. Two months ? That puts flesh on the bones and 
color in the cheeks, and gives the children some definite im- 
pressions of Christian life and its environments. 

About one hundred and fifty people may be accommodated 
at South Athol. These are selected from hundreds of applicants, 
on the recommendation of physicians, nurses, ministers, teachers, 
and mission workers. What a company they form ! Every one 
of them is taken because of some special physical or moral 
infirmity. Arriving at South Athol, they are distributed among 
the five camps that have been made ready for them. The little 
ones, perhaps fifty in all, ranging in age from one and a half to 
six years, are housed in what is known as the Emeline Dunn 
nursery camp, which is supported by Mr. and Mrs. Erank C. 
Dunn, of Gardner, Massachusetts, generous friends of the in- 
stitution, in memory of the little daughter whose name it bears, 
who some years ago was taken to the heavenly home. The 
camp is housed in an old tavern. A visit through the building, 
with its comfortable appointments, is a revelation. Outside, 
the little tots have the benefit of grass and sand pit, and all that 
makes for health. Here they play their games, sing their 
songs, and enjoy themselves. 

The boys' camp is for boys from seven to twelve years of age, 
while Camp Downey takes in girls of the same age. These camps, 
it must be remembered, are not tents, but buildings arranged 
for this particular work. The children are taught many useful 
arts during the summer months. Each must make his or her 
bed, and make it properly, too, wait on table, wash and wipe 
dishes, sweep and wash floors, and assist in the laundry work. 
There is also a task known as camp cleaning, which means 
taking care of the yard and putting everything in order. The 
daily tasks come immediately after morning prayers, and are 
conducted simultaneously in all the camps. 

One of the interesting features of the summer activities is 



MORGAN MEMORIAL IN THE COUNTRY 109 

work in the garden, each boy and girl being given a certain 
amount of land to cultivate. Prizes are offered for the best 
results. After the inspection of the camps to see that every- 
thing is in order, which takes place at nine o'clock, the children 
are employed in these gardens, following which there is manual 
training for the remainder of the forenoon. The afternoons are 
devoted to excursions, picnics, and out-of-door sports. 

Each camp is expected to give one public entertainment a 
month for the benefit of the colony. There is a healthy rivalry, 
good-natured in every way, which results in variety and interest. 
The different camps are relatively so small that it is possible 
for the workers in each of them to become personally acquainted 
with all in their charge. Thus an influence is brought to bear 
upon them that makes for the upbuilding of character. The 
finest camp at South Athol is the one which is known as Good 
Will Camp. It is devoted to the women. It was made possible 
through the gift of the same generous woman who gave her 
farm to the institution. Ideally located on the brow of a hill, 
overlooking the New Salem hills on the west and Petersham on 
the east, it offers a most beautiful panorama. 

As one looks at these various camps, he is impressed with 
their attractiveness. He would never imagine that they are 
transformed buildings for the most part — a barn rearranged, 
a henhouse enlarged, an old tavern improved, an out-of-date 
schoolhouse remodeled. An odd incident occurred when they 
were building the recreational hall out of a barn. A well-known 
farmer of the neighborhood, passing by, stopped to talk for a 
few moments with Dr. Helms. "What do you think of what 1 
am doing?" asked the doctor in his genial manner. The hard- 
fisted old farmer, without the least hesitation and with con- 
siderable emphasis, responded, "I think you are spoiling a good 
barn." Quickly Dr. Helms answered, "Well, that is because I 
think more of raising children than calves." 

It is in these five camps, each different from the others, but 
all "homey" in the best sense of the term, that the summer 
colony lives — a happy family indeed! What sunshine is thus 



110 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

brought into the lives of these residents of the city ! What a 
benediction in health, physical and spiritual ! 

Having considered this two-fold phase of the work as it 
relates itself directly to Morgan Memorial, we turn to South 
Athol as a community settlement. Here again we find a most 
remarkable record. In the midst of that group of buildings is 
a little white church, a typical New England village meeting 
house. This is the religious center of the community, and to it 
is appointed a pastor who is a member of the New England 
Conference. He is also the resident head of the social settle- 
ment. Around that church and the Morgan institution has 
grown a community work of far-reaching importance. Lectures, 
entertainments, and conferences form part of the year-round 
program. The entertainment hall is used as a parish house. A 
Village Improvement Society meets here, and under its direc- 
tion the community has been beautified, made more attractive 
in every way. Addresses on village and farming topics are 
given, a library is maintained, and classes are in operation on 
present-day problems, such as labor and capital, immigration, 
and equal suffrage, as well as in the Bible, and in ethics, per- 
sonal and social. Handicrafts in wood and metals, weaving and 
basketry, bookkeeping, physical culture, cooking and house- 
keeping generally have been introduced to the advantage of 
the entire population. Just as Morgan Memorial has trans- 
formed its South End neighborhood, so by its beneficent ministry 
it has called into existence a new South Athol. 

This is the extension work of Morgan Memorial. Judged by 
any phase of its threefold aspect, it forms a most valuable 
contribution to evangelization, city and rural. It is applied 
Christianity — applied to city lives broken down and often 
wrecked, in order to send them back fit for life's struggle, and 
applied also to the country to broaden life there and purify it 
by wholesome Christian precept and practice that touch the 
entire community and bring into the farming and village homes 
the benign influences of personal religion and unselfish devotion 
to high ideals. 



CHAPTER XIV 

Edgar J. Helms and His Corps of Workers 

If we inquire into the secret that has attended Morgan 
Memorial, we find the answer in terms of personality. It was 
founded upon this principle, and has lived and developed 
through its practice. Life touches life, life gives itself for life. 
There are no "cases" at Morgan Memorial, as we have seen; 
there are folks, men and women and children, individuals who 
must be touched by individuals. When Henry Morgan brought 
the institution into being, he gave it power through projecting 
his own strong, and at times eccentric, but always Christian 
personality into it, and it is no accident that it bears his name. 
For thus in its very title it proclaims that an incarnation has 
taken place in the South End — life has been invested there for 
the unfortunate of a great city. 

The Morgan thrives because it is true to this principle. When 
has a great cause ever been advanced in any other way? The 
poet sings that 

Truth crushed to earth shall rise again, — 
The eternal years of God are hers. 

That is poetry pure and simple. The fact is that truth crushed 
to earth will remain there mangled and bleeding until some 
one comes to raise it and place it upon its feet. It is per- 
sonality that makes truth to live. Sometimes it will be a 
Lincoln, or again a Luther, or a Wesley; but some one must 
incarnate truth ere it becomes powerful. Bleeding, mangled, 
crushed humanity of the South End remains in its sin and 
degradation, beset by vice and crime and poverty, notwithstand- 
ing all the fine precepts of twentieth-century civilization, until 

111 



112 THE BEDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

some one appears who incarnates the principles of righteousness 
and love and compassion. Then the South End is changed. 

And the man who has brought this about more than any 
other, who has made Morgan Memorial what it is to-day, is the 
one who for more than twenty years has been the able, forceful 
superintendent of the institution. In fact, Morgan Memorial 
is nothing more or less than an interpretation of the heart 
and mind and dreams of Edgar J. Helms. His is the person- 
ality at the heart of it, multiplied by that splendid corps of 
helpers with which he has surrounded himself. Taking a weak, 
local, and decidedly limited work, he has developed it, ex- 
panded it, projected it into all manner of fields, and given it a 
place among the great social centers of the country. You must 
reckon with such a personality. You cannot understand the 
institution otherwise. 

If one were asked to characterize this man in one term, he 
would be puzzled. He might say modesty, and he would be 
right. For he has the modesty that marks all true greatness. 
But that would fall far short of being descriptive. For he is 
likewise a man of tremendous confidence; he has the courage 
of his convictions, that consciousness of power that comes out 
of full knowledge of any given situation. A man of most 
unusual faith, an absolute believer in prayer, he is also one of 
the ablest of business men, managing the various details of his 
extensive plant with the ability of a captain of industry. Serious- 
minded, bearing the heavy burdens of scores of unfortunates, 
he is yet buoyant of spirit, loves a good story, and sees life on 
its brightest side. No enigma is he, but his nature is varied. 
Which is to say that, while he is simple in speech and life, God 
has nobly endowed him with talents, that he might do the great 
work to which he has been called. Let this be the explanation 
of it. 

Perhaps one of the most outstanding characteristics of 
Edgar J. Helms is his thorough faith in man. There are plenty 
of people who have faith in God : they believe in him absolutely, 
for they have heard that he is good, and pure, and holy, and 




REV. EDGAR J. HELMS, D.D. 
Superintendent and Pastor 



EDGAR J. HELMS AND HIS WORKERS 113 

moreover, he has brought blessing into their lives. But man, 
especially man in the slums, man who has marred the divine 
image almost beyond recognition, who has wallowed in the mire, 
and made a veritable beast of himself — that is different. How 
can you trust such a one? He may pretend good things, make 
good resolutions, but he is not to be believed. He will certainly 
go back to his old life. Thus argue many, even among church 
people. But this man Helms sees the image divine in even 
the lowest sinner, and he believes in the goodness there to be 
found when touched by the grace of God. Hence, he trusts, 
and verily he has his reward. He sees men redeemed and 
restored to self-respecting lives. 

No one must imagine, however, because of this, that here is 
a man who can easily be imposed upon. He is not of that clay. 
He can look right down through into the very soul of the 
wretch who sits before him. The man who goes to Morgan 
Memorial thinking that he can take advantage of soft religiosity, 
has simply missed his calculation. He will be found out, and 
that without much delay. Morgan Memorial's superintendent 
and all his associates have an open heart and hand for the man 
who has failed, even though this failure be due to his own 
wickedness; but they belong not to those who are gullible when 
a few tears are shed, or certain shibboleths supposed to be 
religious are repeated. This needs to be said, and said em- 
phatically, as a result of close and painstaking investigation. 

The work at the Morgan, under the direction of Dr. Helms, 
is carefully supervised by competent workers. There are no 
less than sixty-two of these, well-selected, paid employees of the 
institution, if we may use the term. Every week the superin- 
tendent meets some of these workers for consultation purposes, 
that the peculiar problems of each may be considered, discussed, 
and handled. Related groups will meet together, as, for in- 
stance, those who are in the industries, or again the visitors, 
or the rescue workers. In this way there is unity of program. 
Then at other times two or three groups, because of some over- 
lapping problem, will consult together, and once in a great 



114 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

while all the workers assemble as a family and face the task 
as one. 

Thus does this directive head project himself into the various 
departments. No manufacturing plant has a better system. The 
latest word in efficiency in social service and religious work is 
spoken here. One of the important features of the institution 
from this standpoint is this — that it is scrutinized most care- 
fully and constantly by a leading consulting engineer, Mr. 
Edward A. Buss, already referred to, who, having become 
interested in the work, has been giving of his time and skill to 
assist at this point. This needs to be added, that when he made 
his first examination of the institution, which he did with 
entire independence and very critically, he wrote a report that 
praised in the highest terms the excellent work that is being 
done. There is no waste of either effort or money at the Morgan. 
In his document the efficiency engineer simply corroborated 
the opinion already officially announced by two great expositions 
— one at Saint Louis in 1904, and one at Liege, Belgium, in 
1905, when gold medals were awarded in recognition of its 
success as a social center. 

Edgar J. Helms is a gift of the West to the East. Though 
born in New York in 1863, his parents removed early to Iowa, 
where he was brought up on a farm. At the age of fifteen, he 
went to the neighboring village to learn the printer's trade. 
When college days came he paid his way through by publishing 
and editing a country newspaper. It was but natural that in 
this position he should be attracted to public affairs. For the 
newspaper man must meet these questions of general interest 
as they arise. This he did in a manner that was prophetic of 
the future champion of righteousness. He had the honor of 
being selected to head the Republican delegation from his 
county to the convention that committed his party and State 
to constitutional prohibition of the liquor traffic. Later he 
organized a bolt against the rum candidate for the legislature. 
The reform candidate was elected, and later cast the deciding 
vote that made Iowa a Prohibition State. 




REV. WILLIAM M. GILBERT 

Associate Pastor 



EDGAE J. HELMS AND HIS WORKEBS 115 

It was while he was in his senior year in college that he yielded 
to his call to preach, and turned his face toward Boston. In 1889 
he was graduated from Cornell College at Mount Vernon, Iowa, 
and three years later took his degree from Boston University 
School of Theology. Like many others who have traveled this 
way from the wide prairies of the West, he was appropriated 
by New England. She had need of him. He was just tall 
enough of mind and broad enough of heart to do the great work 
she had been reserving for the hour of his appearance. From 
the first his attention was attracted to the home missionary 
field. He had fought rum politically in the West. Why not 
fight it also in the East? There is only one answer to that. 
He first went down into the North End and there established 
a university settlement, assisted by friends, all of whom were 
devoted to this phase of work. The results of this enterprise 
it is impossible to dwell upon at this time. This is sufficient, 
that out of it Italian and Portuguese work developed, and a 
center, the Hull Street Settlement, from which has radiated 
all through these years Christian nurture and social service. 

In the year 1895 the Boston Missionary and Church Exten- 
sion Society asked for the appointment of Dr. Helms to what 
was then known as Morgan Chapel, with the understanding that 
he was to develop the work into an institutional church. And 
the rest of this story — is it not written in the book of remem- 
brance of thousands who have been reached as a result of his 
labors, and in the magnificent institution itself? That he 
might be a master workman, one who needeth not to be ashamed, 
he gave himself to thorough study of all phases of social 
service, traveling in England and on the continent for the 
purpose. Thus he has come into touch not only with social 
conditions and work in the Old World, but he has studied the 
immigrant in his old home, and knows the life out of which 
he has come to this country. No better preparation could be 
devised for one who is to lead a great enterprise in a district 
ninety-seven per cent of whose population is of foreign ex- 
traction. 



116 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

Reference has already been made to the vice conditions that 
marked the South End when Dr. Helms took charge of the 
work. It was a notorious red-light district, with all that the 
term implies. After twenty years of service the problem of the 
South End, while still one of sin in many respects, is mainly 
economic and social. But the transformation, the redemption 
has not been purchased without a price. It has taken courage, 
iron in the blood, determination, a willingness to face danger, 
and count all things but loss for the sake of righteousness. 
The courage was there. One need not spend much time in 
the presence of this man to be convinced of this. There is no 
braggadocio, no bluster ; in fact, there is quietness of speech and 
of manner, a simplicity, if you will, that quite deceives the 
casual observer. But back of it all there is a man in every 
sense of the term, and when he threw his life into the South 
End, back in 1895, it was for the redemption of the neighbor- 
hood, cost what it might. Saloonkeepers, owners of vice resorts, 
persons devoted to sin and living upon it in any way, learned to 
fear him. They soon found that here was a man who meant to 
bring something to pass. Every step he took meant disaster 
for them; every expansion of the Morgan meant the restriction 
of their institutions. He was bringing light into the South 
End, and darkness had to flee before it. 

It was said of Napoleon that his generals willingly and 
cheerfully died for him. It is mark of great leadership that 
inspires such loyalty. At Morgan Memorial one finds another 
evidence of this loyalty to leadership — scores of men and women 
lay their lives on the altar of devotion, inspired by him who 
stands at the head of the institution. In nothing, perhaps, 
more than in this is true greatness revealed, that one knows 
how to surround himself by able associates. Small men imagine 
they shine best, and perhaps they do, by having mediocrity for 
subordinates. True ability selects ability. Morgan Memorial is 
the product of a master mind, and one who has known how to 
select strong and worthy men and women to develop the insti- 
tution in order to carry on its ministry of service. 




HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS 



EDGAR J. HELMS AND HIS WORKERS 117 

First among these associates is Rev. W. M. Gilbert, who holds 
the appointment to Morgan Memorial as a member of the New 
England Conference. Genial, alert, forceful on the platform, 
tireless as a worker, he is the righthand man of his chief in 
every enterprise. Dr. Helms facetiously introduced him re- 
cently as "the cardinal of the institution" — a title that fits 
him well. He also came out of the West, having been born in 
Monmouth, Illinois. Like Dr. Helms, he is a graduate of 
Cornell College in Iowa, from which institution he came to 
Boston University School of Theology, receiving his degree 
there in 1909. He united with the Central Illinois Conference 
in 1903 and preached two years at Madison Avenue Church in 
Peoria. After his theological course he served two years in 
the work of the Young Men's Christian Association, and was 
connected also with the Railroad Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation, teaching Bible classes. He was appointed to his present 
position in Morgan Memorial in 1913. 

Rev. Foster William Taylor was appointed superintendent of 
the children's work of the institution as these pages were passing 
through the press. He comes to the Morgan with a record of 
success in this phase of religious activity. Mr. Taylor is a 
graduate of Syracuse University and Union College. He began 
his ministry as a member of the Troy Conference, being trans- 
ferred to the New Hampshire Conference in 1913 and appointed 
to the pastorate of Baker Memorial, Concord, from which 
church he came to the Morgan. Mr. Taylor will have the general 
supervision of the various phases of the work among the children, 
and will devote much of his energy to the securing of an adequate 
endowment for the development of this important department. 

At the head of the industries is Mr. Fred C. Moore, who 
has been connected with the institution longer than any other 
worker. He came to Boston from Newfoundland, and was 
attracted to the Morgan as a place where opportunity would 
be given him to invest his life. He holds the title of general 
manager of the industries, as well as treasurer of the institution. 
He has the ability, a rare gift, of getting along with the odds 



118 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

and ends of humanity that drift into Morgan Memorial, and of 
helping them morally and spiritually as he gives them em- 
ployment. 

Those who visit the institution on Sunday, are always sure 
to spend some time in the Children's Church, which is in charge 
of Miss Mabel A. Gavin, a deaconess, who has been connected 
with the institution for a number of years. She is the children's 
pastor. Sympathetic and cheerful in her personality, she draws 
the children to herself, while in her pulpit she is interesting 
and instructive and in the best sense of the word helpful. The 
children are prepared by her for membership in the main church 
when they reach the years that mark them as adults. 

Miss Mary F. Fagan, as matron of the day nursery, and Miss 
Kate F. Hobart, as superintendent of the children's industrial 
work, together with Miss Gavin, touch that most important 
part of the enterprise, the child life. Loving in their disposi- 
tion and tender in their ministrations, they know how to weave 
themselves into the hearts of the little ones. A veritable mother 
is Miss Fagan, as she cares for her charges while the real mothers 
are at their work of earning daily bread, while Miss Hobart, by 
her skill and patience, trains the boys and girls in handicraft 
that will help to fit them for life's battles. 

These are the leading workers, the heads of the departments, 
who, with Dr. Helms and the other sixty and more assistants, 
give the institution its character and place among the religious 
and social centers of the country. 



CHAPTER XV 



What Does It All Cost? 



Probably more than once during the progress of this narra- 
tive the question has arisen in the mind of the reader, What 
does all this cost? What is the financial side of Morgan 
Memorial? At the risk of being monotonous in the use of the 
term, it must be said that from this standpoint also the institu- 
tion is absolutely unique. It is financed in very large measure 
out of the wastes of life. It lives out of the rag bag and the 
scrap heap. 

This statement must not be taken so literally, however, as to 
give the impression that nothing is derived from other sources. 
That would be erroneous in the extreme. Generous-hearted 
laymen give each year to the support of the Morgan, but the 
major part of their gifts is always for the enlarging of the 
plant, for its improvement, or for some definite object. And 
there is constant need of such sums, as the institution from the 
first has been marked by growth. No year but sees some im- 
portant addition either in Boston or in South Athol, and at 
times in both places. 

Just here remark may well be made concerning Dr. 
Helms' s relation to the financial part of this work. He has 
known how to approach men and enlist their interest in 
the enterprise to a degree that is the marvel of all who are 
cognizant of the facts. Why ? The answer must be, in a word, 
because men believe in him. He has about him those marks of 
genuineness that awaken confidence. Moreover, he has a story 
to tell that captures the imagination. It is one that records 
work done. No wonder men and women respond to his appeal. 
The wonder would be if they did not. There is another thing, 

119 



120 THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

however, that needs to be added here, and that is, the large 
place that prayer plays in the financial part of this work. 

Dr. Helms is preeminently a man of prayer. So much is this 
so that to one asking him the explanation of that pile of brick 
and mortar that stands at the corner of Shawmut Avenue and 
Corning Street in Boston, and of that farm with its many 
camps at South Athol, he would reply, "Prayer." It is all an 
answer to prayer. It is almost impossible to convey in cold type 
the full impression of that reply. There is often so much of 
cant, so much of the sanctimonious in such statements, that 
many are inclined to pass them by with impatience; but this is 
not the case at Morgan Memorial. There prayer is natural, 
normal, the expected, and when they want anything, they pray 
about it. In all candor, this is the answer that must be given 
to those who inquire for the secret of that remarkable enterprise. 

And, really, why should there be surprise at this on the part 
of believers? The hearts of men have simply been touched by 
the Spirit, and out of their means they have given to make 
possible the institution in its various phases. Which is not 
saying that faith has not been followed by works. Those who 
know the Morgan know it eminently as a place of work. But 
it is saying that the divine element is the dynamic that gives 
life and growth and success to every part of it. 

The scope of Morgan Memorial's activities may be indicated 
by the statement that over $100,000 in money was handled by 
the treasurer of the institution in carrying on the work during 
the past year, and the remarkable part of it is that the founda- 
tion of it all is that simple relief bag referred to in another 
chapter. The extension of this service is in itself a most fascin- 
ating tale. It was very limited indeed at first, and only 
gradually did it grow. It is so easy to throw things away, and 
it is so easy to imagine that because a thing is worn out or 
broken it is absolutely useless. Yet it is these very wastes that 
are of such importance when rightly understood. When friends 
of the institution grasp this idea, then they willingly co-operate. 

What these bags mean to the institution in money may be 









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WHAT DOES IT ALL COST? 121 

indicated by the statement that $23,246.37 was paid in wages 
in 1914 to those who worked in the various repair departments, 
and that $52,836.37 was handled during the same period as 
receipts for goods sold in the store. When it is remembered 
that everything that is offered for sale comes out of the relief 
bag, the significance of this phase of the work will be apparent. 
Here is the financial exhibit, bringing out clearly the sales in 
detail by departments: 

Rug Department Sales $9,334.92 

Women's Clothing Store 12,195.10 

Men's Clothing Store 13,248.29 

Shoe Store , 4,786.85 

East Boston Clothing Store 2,846.19 

Charlestown Store .. 1,646.29 

Cambridge Store 3,562. 26 

Salvage, Rags, Paper, Metal, and Rubber 5,216. 47 



$52,836.37 



It is of interest to note how much is received from various 
sources in connection with the instruction classes and relief 
features of the institution. Thus, the day nursery, where 
babies are taken care of when mothers are at work, netted 
$342.69, while the children paid for instruction in music, art, 
sloyd, and other departments, $1,635.10. The Temperance 
Saloon brought in $648.88. Added to this were gifts for the 
work which brought the total received in this way up to 
$36,569.41 during the twelve months. 

Furthermore, there are certain societies and individuals deserv- 
ing of special mention for their support of Morgan Memorial. 
For several years before Dr. Helms was sent to Morgan Chapel 
to develop an institutional church, the Boston Missionary and 
Church Extension Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
had given regularly with the Unitarian trustees to support the 
work. Gradually the society's gifts were increased until for 
several years this organization has been annually contributing 
$2,500. Individual members of its board have given unstinted 



122 THE EEDBMPTION OF THE SOUTH END 

personal service and counsel to the growing enterprise. Without 
the assistance of this society Morgan Memorial would never 
have reached its present proportions. 

After the Unitarians had withdrawn from the trusteeship, 
as related in another chapter, the Board of Home Missions and 
Church Extension of the Methodist Episcopal Church, through 
the appeal of Bishop John W. Hamilton, graciously came to 
the rescue of the enterprise, which for a time was in peril. The 
board has annually subsidized the work to the extent of $1,000, 
a gift and support that has been of incalculable benefit to the 
institution. 

Several years ago the women of various churches in Greater 
Boston were made to feel that the Morgan Memorial Day Nursery 
and some of its relief work were activities that the women's 
organizations should undertake. An Auxiliary was accordingly 
formed, consisting of representatives from several of these 
societies. It meets quarterly and has greatly strengthened the 
institution by its sympathy and financial support. So strong, in 
fact, has the Auxiliary become that in addition to supporting 
the nursery, helping to circulate the relief bags, assisting in the 
fresh air work, the vacation school, and other phases of work, it 
maintains one of Morgan Memorial's most efficient helpers, Miss 
Amelia Ayres, known as the Morgan Memorial missionary and 
the Auxiliary's field secretary. The Massachusetts Temperance 
Society has also annually subsidized the excellent work of the 
temperance saloon. 

Among individuals who have made large gifts to the institu- 
tion and stood by it in its "growing pains," special mention 
should be made of the following : The late Eoswell S. Douglass, 
the Misses Linscott, Everett 0. Fisk, Eoswell E. Eobinson, Frank 
C. Dunn, James E. Cook, George E. and John H. Henry and 
their mother, Mrs. James E. Henry, Mrs. David Floyd, Mrs. 
Eebecca Warren, the Misses Williams, Miss Hannah Parker Kim- 
ball, Dr. Julia M. Dutton, and Mr. and Mrs. George H. Maxwell. 

And now we look at the other side of the question. What 
does it cost to keep the institution in operation? The total 



WHAT DOES IT ALL COST? 123 

expenses for 1914 were $87,949.37. This sum included $3,489 
for real estate and $5,354 for supplies and equipment for the 
new industrial building. Among the items directly connected 
with the operation of the plant were $19,389 for the salaries 
of the workers, $23,246 paid for the labor in the shops, $9,066 
for provisions and supplies, and $5,406 for general expenses. 
When one considers the large number of workers employed at 
the Morgan, the training of many of them, and the quality of 
work that is done, he cannot but wonder at the smallness of the 
budget. How can it be done? will be the question asked by 
many. But it is done, and well done, as the record of the 
institution has fully revealed. 

With these statements we come to the end of our narrative. 
Much more might be said — the record of the activities is almost 
interminable. It touches life at so many points, and has about 
it so much of human interest, that volumes are bound up 
within it. But enough has been written to give a glimpse at 
least of the institution and to indicate something of its scope 
of work. And not only that, but also to bring out in some relief 
the place that this enterprise occupies among the social centers 
of the country. I have desired to do more than to catalogue its 
activities. Bather, has it been my purpose to point out its 
significance as an agency in city evangelism, and its place in 
our American life as a redemptive force and as a constructive 
contribution to national welfare. Such institutions planted in 
the great centers of population mean not simply the relief of 
the unfortunate, important as that may be, but the eradication 
of vice, the upbuilding of character, and the elimination of those 
agencies that make for political and social anarchy. The forces 
that have worked through Morgan Memorial for the redemption 
of that part of the South End where it is located will bring 
about the same results wherever the masses are to be found, 
foreign-born and American. Beaching these with its moral and 
spiritual message, standing four-square against vice, working 
for the amelioration of the living conditions of the poor, and 



124 THE REDEMPTION OE THE SOUTH END 

standing for the square deal for all in industrial life, it brings 
together into sympathetic relation for national well-being those 
forces which apart are inevitably a menace. The message of 
these pages to the social worker, the generous layman, the 
church in our crowded centers, is, Go and do likewise. 



